Abstract
Quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) are widely applied as surfactants and biocides in cleaning and personal-care products. Because of incomplete removal during wastewater treatment, QACs are present in wastewater effluents, with which they are discharged into natural waters, where they accumulate in sediments. To assess the levels of QACs in aquatic environments, a liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry method using both target and suspect screening was developed. The water and sediment sample preparation, measurement, and data analysis workflow were optimized for 22 target compounds with a wide range of hydrophobicity, including ionic liquids that have potential use as solvents and QACs common in personal-care and sanitizing products. In wastewater effluents, average concentrations of all target and suspect QACs combined ranged from 0.4 μg L-1 to 6.6 μg L-1. Various homologs of benzylalkyldimethylammonium (BAC) and dialkyldimethylammonium (DADMAC) as well as the ionic liquid butylpyridinium and 15 suspect QACs were detected in at least one wastewater effluent sample. A spatial profile of sediment samples in a lake demonstrated potential inputs from both municipal wastewater effluent and agricultural sources for BACs. In sediment cores, two distinct trends of temporal QAC accumulation were observed. In lakes with large watersheds and mixed domestic and industrial wastewater sources (Lake Pepin and Duluth Harbor), peak concentrations of QACs were found at depths corresponding to deposition in the 1980s and decreases after this time are attributed to improved wastewater treatment and source control. In a smaller lake with predominantly domestic wastewater inputs (Lake Winona), concentrations of QACs increased slowly over time until today.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 430-441 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Environmental Science: Processes and Impacts |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Feb 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR). Mass spectrometry was carried out in the Analytical Biochemistry Shared Resource of the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, funded in part by Cancer Center Support Grant CA-77598. Xun Ming and Makenzie Pillsbury are thanked for support with method development and analysis. Daniel Engstrom is thanked for his past assistance with sediment collection and dating. Thanks also goes to all the wastewater treatment plant operators for providing effluent samples for this study and to Annika Heaps for help with sample preparation.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Royal Society of Chemistry.
