Wastewater treatment plants: an active source of Emerging Contaminants into AtmospheRE? – WECARE

The presence of emerging contaminants (ECs) in the atmospheric environment is a growing and potential significant issue in environmental sciences. Environmental studies are mostly focused on the occurrence and fate of ECs in aqueous environments. In contrast, less attention is paid to the atmospheric compartment, which plays a significant role in the global cycling pollutants. It is now accepted that bioaerosols and particulate matter can be emitted to the air from common activated sludge processes (aeration tank) and during biosolid land spreading events. ECs may be adsorbed or trapped on airborne particles emitted from these sources and thus be transferred to the atmosphere. Hence, waste water treatment plants (WWTPs) could be an active source of ECs in the atmosphere through volatilization or aerosolization processes.
WECARE main goals are (i) to provide valuable data on the occurrence of ECs in the atmosphere (ii) a better understanding of the impact of WWTPs and biosolid land spreading on the emissions of aerosols and ECs in the atmosphere (transfer processes) (ii) to also provide valuable data on key atmospheric parameters (gas-particle partitioning, particle size distribution of aerosols emitted, mass fluxes, …) which affect the deposition, chemical reactions, long-range transport and impact on human and ecosystem health of pollutants.