Environmental Footprint of Wastewater Treatment: A Step Forward in the Use of Toxicological Tools.

ABSTRACT: The assessment of the actual impact of discharged wastewater on the whole ecosystem and, in turn, on human health requires the execution of bioassays. In effect, based on the chemical characterization alone, the synergistic/antagonistic effect of mixtures of pollutants is hardly estimable. The aim of this work was to evaluate the applicability of a battery of bioassays and to suggest a smart procedure for results representation. Two real wastewater treatment plants were submitted to analytical campaigns. Several baseline toxicity assays were conducted, together with tests for the determination of endocrine activity, genetic toxicity and carcinogenicity of wastewater. A "traffic light" model was adopted for an easy-to-understand visualization of the results. Although the legal prescriptions

SUBMITTER: Bertanza G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8297069 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature