Towards more sustainable wastewater treatments: Taking into consideration the TRANSformation PROducts of organic micropollutants – TRANSPRO

Methods of analysis
Experimental methods in the laboratory
Field approaches
Laboratory/field coupling
Modelling

Analytical methods are developed
Laboratory experimental plans are finalized
Degradation studies of a number of micropollutants are finalized
Transformation products have been characterized
Field samples have been taken and characterized

Finalize the laboratory experiments
Finalize the characterization of pilot and field samples
Develop the models

Budzinski H., Devier M.-H., Gardia-Parège C. - High resolution mass spectrometry as a tool to elucidate the fate and behaviour of emerging contaminants, specially drugs and metabolites, in waste waters ; ICRAPHE 2019, 28-29 Novembre 2019, Barcelone, Espagne.

Ouaret Rachid, Ali Badara Minta, Claire Albasi Jean Marc Choubert Antonin AZAI Probabilistic graphical models for the identification and analysis of reaction pathways in water treatment - January 2022 -Computer Aided Chemical Engineering 51:1519-1524
DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-323-95879-0.50254-X
In book: 32nd European Symposium on Computer Aided Process Engineering

Gardia-Parège C., Dévier M.-H., Dupraz V., Albasi C., Choubert J.-M. and Budzinski H. - Strategy to identify transformation products of anthropogenic organic compounds in complex environmental matrices ; SETAC 2021, 3-6 Mai 2021, Visioconférence.

Budzinski H., Gardia-Parège C., Devier M.-H., Albasi C., Choubert J-M. - Comment appréhender la question des produits de transformation dans les échantillons complexes ? ; GRUTTEE 2020, 18-20 Février 2020, Rennes, France.

Water is a scarce resource that should be protected especially taking into consideration chemical contamination. Preservation of water quality is a major issue for both the environment and human life safety. From this perspective it is important to characterize and comprehend the factors that can affect it. Amongst these factors is chemical contamination, with the aquatic environment being its ultimate sink. The water framework directive (WFD) has been adopted in Europe in October 2000 (2000/60/EC) aiming at protecting and at restoring the quality of aquatic ecosystems. Numerous studies have addressed organic micropollutants (MPs) for more than 15 years. The knowledge concerning their occurrence, sources and impacts in aquatic ecosystems has therefore increased considerably in recent years. Wastewaters are proven important sources for MPs in connection with the consumption of manufactured goods. Within the context of protecting aquatic resources quality, the application of the WFD has led to the strengthening of regulations on the treatment of urban wastewater, and to the widespread introduction of secondary treatments (nitrifying/denitrifying activated sludge processes; submerged biofilters removing carbon, or both carbon and nitrogen), that achieve significant removal of numerous organic MPs. Oxidative processes are involved and, thus, lead to degradation that may not be complete and that could generate relatively stable and toxic transformation products (TPs) that can then be found in both sludge and liquid effluents. Although if it is known that organic contaminants undergo transformation within wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and even after they reach the aquatic environment, there have been very few studies that have reported on TPs. So far, data on TPs remain scarce and are restricted to small numbers of parent contaminants. Thus, it appears essential that future research projects address the issue of TPs in order to elucidate their occurrence, formation and fate all along the wastewater treatment system (from the influent of WWTPs) up to their potential input into the aquatic environment via effluents from WWTPs. TRANSPRO forms part of this perspective, and proposes to investigate TPs, developing innovative screening methods using both chemical (high resolution mass spectrometry) and biological (in vitro screening tests) tools. It will study the wastewater treatment system up to natural aquatic ecosystems, focusing on various types of treatment processes in relation to their ability to generate TPs but also studying natural processes (biodegradation, photo-oxidation) which may lead to transformations within surface waters themselves. TRANSPRO will allow to improve knowledge on the nature, origin and dynamics of TPs. It will also allow the classification of WWTP processes in relation to their tendency to generate TPs and help to select the most efficient process in terms of degradation of native contaminants and which could minimize TP formation.
TRANSPRO is a collaborative project involving a strong partnership; it is based on multidisciplinary expertise, bringing together analytical chemists (EPOC), physical chemists (EPOC and LGC), environmental chemists (EPOC and Irstea), specialists in process engineering and/or modelling (Irstea and LGC) and specialists in wastewater treatments (LGC and Irstea) addressing a common question: which processes generate which TPs and what are the environmentally relevant TPs? In that respect TRANSPRO will provide knowledge which will help stakeholders to design waste water treatments of the future.