A non-targeted high-resolution mass spectrometry data analysis of dissolved organic matter in wastewater treatment.
Chemosphere
; 200: 397-404, 2018 Jun.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-29499520
ABSTRACT
The dissolved organic matter (DOM) in wastewater is typically described by a limited number of concentration measurements of select DOM fractions or micro-contaminants, which determine the removal efficiency in a wastewater treatment. Current methods do not necessarily reflect the true performance of the treatment with regard to environmental and public health risk. Herein we describe the development and application of a non-targeted liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) data analysis for the evaluation of wastewater treatment processes. Our data analysis approach was applied to a real wastewater system with secondary biological treatment and tertiary treatment consisting of sand filtration, UV-treatment, and chlorination. We identified significant changes in DOM during wastewater treatment. The secondary treatment removed 1617 of 2409 (67%) detected molecular features (grouped isotopologues belonging to the same molecule) from the influent while 255 of 1047 (24%) new molecular features appeared in the secondary effluent. A reduction in the number of large molecules (>450â¯Da) and an increase in unsaturated molecular features of the effluent organic matter was observed. Van Krevelen plots revealed the distribution of unsaturation and heteroatoms and Kendrick mass defect plots uncovered CH2 homologous series implying a removal of heavy constituents in that fraction. The demonstrated approach is a step towards a more comprehensive monitoring of DOM in wastewater and contributes to the understanding of current treatment technologies.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Organic Chemicals
/
Mass Spectrometry
/
Water Pollutants, Chemical
/
Wastewater
Language:
En
Journal:
Chemosphere
Year:
2018
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country: