PW15 Environmental Toxicology, Environmental Assessment
Exhibit Hall
8:00 AM - Wednesday
(PW246) Bacterial Respiration Inhibition Studies of Fluorotelomer-Based Products.
Berti, William1, Wang, Ning1, Sulecki, Lisa1, Folsom, Patrick1, Buck, Robert2, 1 DuPont Central Research & Development, Newark, DE, USA2 DuPont Chemical Solutions Enterprise, Wilmington, DE, USA
ABSTRACT- Fluorotelomer-based products provide unique properties to a wide variety of consumer goods. These products may find their way into wastewater treatment plants through normal use and disposal. Bacterial respiration inhibition studies help estimate the effect of the test material on mixed communities of bacteria in aquatic environments, especially in aerobic biological treatment systems. These studies also can be useful to help determine test concentrations to use in biodegradation studies. We studied the inhibition to bacterial growth in activated sludge of municipal wastewater treatment facilities using both guideline and non-guideline methods for a series of fluorotelomer-based products. At the highest test concentration at which they were dosed, 1000 mg L-1, the test substances exhibited no respiration inhibition. The EC50, which is the effective concentration of the test material resulting in a 50% calculated or interpolated inhibition of oxygen consumption compared with a control blank, are estimated to be greater than 1000 mg L-1.
Key words: activated sludge, fluorotelomer, respiration inhibition, dissolved oxygen