DETERMINATION OF THE CONTENT OF 4-NONYLPHENOLS AND THEIR ETHOXYLATES IN SEWAGE SLUDGE FROM POLISH MUNICIPAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS

摘要

The aim of the present study was to examine the content, and its change with time, of 4-nonylphenol and nonylphenol ethoxylates in sewage sludge from Polish municipal wastewater treatment plants. The sludge samples from twelve wastewater treatment plants were examined for three consecutive years (2005-2007). The content of 4-NP was determined only in one set of samples from 2005 and in those from 2007. In none of them it exceeded 1 mg/kg. The content of NPEOs in the samples examined decreased with time, from more than 200 mg/kg in 2005 to 10-30 mg/kg at the end of the study; in most of the samples it proved to be below 50 mg/kg - the new threshold value proposed by the EU.