PAHs in wastewater: removal efficiency in a conventional wastewater treatment plant and comparison with model predictions

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are very hazardous compounds and, owing to their lipophilicity, they can easily cross biological membranes and accumulate inside organisms, causing damage to the genetic material. The scientific interest in PAHs is related to their demonstrated or supposed genotoxicity (cancer-causing characteristics of B[alpha]Py and dB[alpha, h] first suspected in the 1930s). This study tried to detect the presence of PAHs in wastewater and to estimate their removal efficiency in a conventional wastewater treatment plant (Varese Olona). The PAHs' presence in municipal wastewater sewage system and in the WWTP effluent was determined by a specific analytical campaign, and afterwards a comparison between observed removal efficiency and FATE model (US-EPA) predictions was carried out.