Characterization of wastewater effluent derived toxic matters and development of real-time monitoring indicator

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K14859
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 22060:Environmental systems for civil engineering-related
• Research Institution: Kanazawa University
• Principal Investigator: Hara-Yamamura Hiroe 金沢大学, 地球社会基盤学系, 助教 (70823524)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 下水由来フミン物質 / 未規制化学物質 / 細胞毒性試験 / トキシコゲノミクス / 蛍光分析 / 下水再利用

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Control and monitoring of unregulated chemicals in water reuse systems are common challenge in the world. In this study, we aimed to get insights into the prioritized chemicals for control and monitoring in the wastewater reclamation schemes, by 1) investigation of interaction between wastewater effluent organic matters (EfOM) and micropollutants, and 2) development of monitoring indicator for the toxic fraction of EfOM. The combination of transcriptomic analysis and adsorption assessment revealed that the basic fraction of EfOM was capable of mitigate or enhance the biological activity of steroid hormones. In addition, the multivariate analysis of fluorescence spectra data suggested the fluorescence matters with 20,000 Da or smaller size had a potential indicator for the toxic unknowns in the wastewater effluent.

Free Research Field

環境工学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

下水処理水は，処理過程で生じる副生成物・代謝物，微生物由来の溶解性有機物，水道水由来の自然有機物等が織り成す複雑な処理水マトリクスを構成している．本研究の知見は，下水再利用システムにおいて制御・監視すべき微量汚染物質を絞り込むために有用である．また，対象物質が明らかになれば，これらに対し有効な高度処理技術の開発にも着手できる．一方で，処理水マトリクスには多くの自然由来有機物が含まれていることから，吸着特性データは，自然の水環境中での微量汚染物質の挙動や毒性影響を研究する上でも役立つ．