Potential of UV-B and UV-C irradiation in disinfecting microorganisms and removing N-nitrosodimethylamine and 1,4-dioxane for potable water reuse: A review.

The ultraviolet (UV)-based advanced oxidation process (AOP) is a powerful technology for removing pathogenic microorganisms and contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) from water. AOP in potable water reuse has been predominantly based on traditional low-pressure mercury (LP-Hg) lamps at 254 nm wavelength, supplemented by hydrogen peroxide addition. In this review, we assessed the potential of unconventional UV wavelengths (UV-B, 280-315 nm and UV-C, 100-280 nm) compared to conventional one (254 nm) in achieving the attenuation of pathogens and CECs. At the same UV doses, conventional 254 nm LP-Hg lamps and other sources such as, 222 nm KrCl lamps and 265 nm UV-LEDs, showed similar disinfection capability for viruses, protozoa, and bacteria, and the effect of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) addition on disinfection remained unclear. The attenuation levels of key CECs in potable water reuse (N-nitrosodimethylamine and 1,4-dioxane) by 185 + 254 nm LP-Hg or 222 nm KrCl lamps were generally greater than those by conventional 254 nm LP-Hg and other UV lamps. CEC degradation was generally enhanced by H2O2 addition. Overall, our review suggests that 222 nm KrCl or 185 + 254 nm LP-Hg lamps with the addition of H2O2 would be the best alternative to conventional 254 nm LP-Hg lamps for achieving target removal levels of both pathogens and CECs in potable water reuse.

Degradation of N-nitrosamines and 1,4-dioxane using vacuum ultraviolet irradiation (UV254+185 nm or UV172 nm).

Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) play a vital role in attenuating contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) during potable water reuse. AOPs are conventionally performed by irradiating with a 254-nm low-pressure (LP) mercury-vapor (Hg) ultraviolet (UV) lamp along with chemical treatment. Compared with UV-C light treatment (200-280 nm), vacuum-UV (V-UV) light treatment (100-200 nm) is advantageous in terms of hydroxyl radical generation without the requirement for chemical treatment. This study assessed the potential of V-UV (172-nm Xe2 excimer or 185 + 254-nm LP-Hg) lamps on the destruction of two major CECs in potable water reuse, namely N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) and 1,4-dioxane. Direct irradiation using UV254 nm or UV185+254 nm lamps achieved ≥94% removal of N-nitrosamines, including NDMA, at a UV dose of 900 mJ/cm2. In contrast, the Xe2 excimer lamp (UV172 nm) was less effective for N-nitrosamine removal, achieving up to 82% removal of NDMA. The removal of 1,4-dioxane by V-UV lamps at a UV dose of 900 mJ/cm2 reached 51% (UV172 nm) and 28% (UV185+254 nm), both of which results were superior to that obtained using a conventional UV254 nm lamp (10%). The addition of hydrogen peroxide during UV254 nm or UV185+254 nm irradiation was found to enhance the removal of 1,4-dioxane, while UV172 nm irradiation without hydrogen peroxide addition still exhibited greater efficiencies than those UV254 nm lamps-based AOPs. Overall, this study demonstrated that the removal of both NDMA and 1,4-dioxane can be successfully achieved using either a UV254+185 nm lamp with hydrogen peroxide or a UV172 nm Xe2 excimer lamp without hydrogen peroxide.

Free Chlorine Disinfection of Full-Scale MBR Effluent to Achieve 5-Log Virus Inactivation.

A series of full-scale testing was performed at the City of Lathrop Consolidated Treatment Facility to determine the "concentration times time" (Ct) value for free chlorine disinfection of nitrified membrane bioreactor (MBR) effluent to achieve more than 5-log virus inactivation. The full-scale testing consisted of tracer study, chlorine decay study, and virus seeding study. The virus seeding study was performed at a flow rate of 1 million gal/d (3800 m3/min), which corresponded to a theoretical contact time of 117 minutes in the chlorine contact basin. It was found that Ct values as small as 3 mg·min/L were sufficient to achieve 5-log inactivation of MS2 bacteriophage in this study, which is comparable to the results of previous bench- and pilot-scale free chlorine disinfection studies on nitrified MBR effluent (3 to 40 mg·min/L), as well as those of pilot- and full-scale studies on granular media-filtered nitrified effluent (2 to 22 mg·min/L).

Water Recovery from Advanced Water Purification Facility Reverse Osmosis Concentrate by Photobiological Treatment Followed by Secondary Reverse Osmosis.

Reverse osmosis (RO)-based desalination and advanced water purification facilities have inherent challenges associated with concentrate management and disposal. Although enhanced permeate recovery and concentrate minimization are desired, membrane scaling due to inorganic constituents, such as silica, calcium, phosphate, and iron, hinders the process. To solve this problem, a new diatom-based photobiological process has been developed to remove these scaling constituents by biological uptake and precipitation. In this study, RO concentrate samples were collected from a full-scale advanced water reclamation facility in California and were treated in 3.8 and 57 L photobioreactors inoculated with a brackish water diatom  Pseudostaurosira trainorii PEWL001 using light-emitting diode bulbs or natural sunlight as a light source. The photobiological treatment removed 95% of reactive silica and 64% of calcium and enabled additional water recovery using a secondary RO at a recovery rate up to 66%. This represents 95% overall recovery, including 85% recovery in the primary RO unit. In addition to the scaling constituents, the photobiological treatment removed 12 pharmaceuticals and personal care products, as well as N-nitrosodimethylamine, from RO concentrate samples primarily via photolysis. This novel approach has a strong potential for application to brackish water desalination and advanced water purification in arid and semiarid areas.

Health Effects Associated with Wastewater Treatment, Reuse, and Disposal.

A review of the literature published in 2015 on topics relating to public and environmental health risks associated with wastewater treatment, reuse, and disposal is presented. This review is divided into the following sections: wastewater management, microbial hazards, chemical hazards, wastewater treatment, wastewater reuse, agricultural reuse in different regions, greywater reuse, wastewater disposal, hospital wastewater, industrial wastewater, and sludge and biosolids.

Health Effects Associated with Wastewater Treatment, Reuse, and Disposal.

A review of the literature published in 2014 on topics relating to public and environmental health risks associated with wastewater treatment, reuse, and disposal is presented. This review is divided into the following sections: wastewater management, microbial hazards, chemical hazards, wastewater reuse, wastewater treatment plants, wastewater disposal, and sludge and biosolids.

Protein targets of reactive metabolites of thiobenzamide in rat liver in vivo.

Thiobenzamide (TB) is a potent hepatotoxin in rats, causing dose-dependent hyperbilirubinemia, steatosis, and centrolobular necrosis. These effects arise subsequent to and appear to result from the covalent binding of the iminosulfinic acid metabolite of TB to cellular proteins and phosphatidylethanolamine lipids [ Ji et al. ( 2007) Chem. Res. Toxicol. 20, 701- 708 ]. To better understand the relationship between the protein covalent binding and the toxicity of TB, we investigated the chemistry of the adduction process and the identity of the target proteins. Cytosolic and microsomal proteins isolated from the livers of rats treated with a hepatotoxic dose of [ carboxyl- (14)C]TB contained high levels of covalently bound radioactivity (25.6 and 36.8 nmol equiv/mg protein, respectively). These proteins were fractionated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, and radioactive spots (154 cytosolic and 118 microsomal) were located by phosphorimaging. Corresponding spots from animals treated with a 1:1 mixture of TB and TB- d 5 were similarly separated, the spots were excised, and the proteins were digested in gel with trypsin. Peptide mass mapping identified 42 cytosolic and 24 microsomal proteins, many of which appeared in more than one spot on the gel; however, only a few spots contained more than one identifiable protein. Eighty-six peptides carrying either a benzoyl or a benzimidoyl adduct on a lysine side chain were clearly recognized by their d 0/ d 5 isotopic signature (sometimes both in the same digest). Because model studies showed that benzoyl adducts do not arise by hydrolysis of benzimidoyl adducts, it was proposed that TB undergoes S-oxidation twice to form iminosulfinic acid 4 [PhC(NH)SO 2H], which either benzimidoylates a lysine side chain or undergoes hydrolysis to 9 [PhC(O)SO 2H] and then benzoylates a lysine side chain. The proteins modified by TB metabolites serve a range of biological functions and form a set that overlaps partly with the sets of proteins known to be modified by several other metabolically activated hepatotoxins. The relationship of the adduction of these target proteins to the cytotoxicity of reactive metabolites is discussed in terms of three currently popular mechanisms of toxicity: inhibition of enzymes important to the maintenance of cellular energy and homeostasis, the unfolded protein response, and interference with kinase-based signaling pathways that affect cell survival.

Covalent modification of microsomal lipids by thiobenzamide metabolites in vivo.

Thiobenzamide (TB) is hepatotoxic in rats causing centrolobular necrosis, steatosis, cholestasis, and hyperbilirubinemia. It serves as a model compound for a number of thiocarbonyl compounds that undergo oxidative bioactivation to chemically reactive metabolites. The hepatotoxicity of TB is strongly dependent on the electronic character of substituents in the meta- and para-positions, with Hammett rho values ranging from -4 to -2. On the other hand, ortho substituents that hinder nucleophilic addition to the benzylic carbon of S-oxidized TB metabolites abrogate the toxicity and protein covalent binding of TB. This strong linkage between the chemistry of TB and its metabolites and their toxicity suggests that this model is a good one for probing the overall mechanism of chemically induced biological responses. While investigating the protein covalent binding of TB metabolites, we noticed an unusually large amount of radioactivity associated with the lipid fraction of rat liver microsomes. Thin-layer chromatography showed that most of the radioactivity was contained in a single spot more polar than the neutral lipids but less polar than the phospholipid fractions. Mass spectral analyses aided by the use of synthetic standards identified the material as N-benzimidoyl derivatives of typical microsomal phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) lipids. Quantitative analysis indicated that up to 25% of total microsomal PE became modified within 5 h after a hepatotoxic dose of TB. Further studies will be required to determine the contribution of lipid modification to the hepatotoxicity of TB.

Purification, characterization and evaluation of extracellular peroxidase from two Coprinus species for aqueous phenol treatment.

Non-ligninolytic fungal peroxidases produced by Coprinus cinereus UAMH 4103 and Coprinus sp. UAMH 10067 were purified, characterized and evaluated as cost-effective alternatives to horseradish peroxidase for aqueous phenol treatment. Purified Coprinus peroxidases exhibited a molecular weight of 36 kDa on matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Although the catalytic properties of the two Coprinus peroxidases were nearly identical in both crude and purified forms, the stabilities were substantially different. The peroxidase from Coprinus sp. UAMH 10067 was more stable at 50 degrees C and under basic conditions (up to pH 10) than the enzyme from C. cinereus UAMH 4103. The former enzyme also performed better at pH 9 than the latter one in aqueous phenol treatment. The phenol removal efficiency of the Coprinus peroxidase was comparable to those of previously studied plant peroxidases. The broader working pH and higher thermal and alkaline stability of the peroxidase from Coprinus sp. UAMH 10067 may be advantageous for its application to industrial wastewater treatment.

Extracellular peroxidase production by Coprinus species from urea-treated soil.

Thirteen strains of inky-cap mushroom Coprinus species were evaluated for the production of extracellular peroxidase. The liquid fermentation was carried out in shake flasks containing 1% glucose, 0.5% peptone, 0.3% yeast extract, and 0.3% malt extract broth at 25 degrees C. Peroxidase activity was detected in the liquid culture of several Coprinus species, including C. echinosporus NBRC 30630; C. macrocephalus NBRC 30117; Coprinus spp. UAMH 10065, UAMH 10066, UAMH 10067, and 074, after 10 days of growth. Peroxidase production by Coprinus sp. UAMH 10067, a Coprinus species isolated from urea-treated soil, was comparable to that of C. cinereus and reached 15 U.mL(-1) after 10 days. In addition, the peroxidase from Coprinus sp. UAMH 10067 was apparently more thermally stable than the enzyme produced by C. cinereus.

Optimization of extracellular fungal peroxidase production by 2 Coprinus species.

Optimum culture conditions for the batch production of extracellular peroxidase by Coprinus cinereus UAMH 4103 and Coprinus sp. UAMH 10067 were explored using 2 statistical experimental designs, including 2-level, 7-factor fractional factorial design and 2-factor central composite design. Of the 7 factors examined in the screening study, the concentrations of carbon (glucose) and nitrogen (peptone or casitone) sources showed significant effects on the peroxidase production by Coprinus sp. UAMH 10067. The optimum glucose and peptone concentrations were determined as 2.7% and 0.8% for Coprinus sp. UAMH 10067, and 2.9% and 1.4% for C. cinereus UAMH 4103, respectively. Under the optimized culture condition the maximum peroxidase activity achieved in this study was 34.5 U x mL(-1) for Coprinus sp. UAMH 10067 and 68.0 U x mL(-1) for C. cinereus UAMH 4103, more than 2-fold higher than the results of previous studies.