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1D - Soil and Sediment Contamination (TUP/31) Paper as the Major Source for the Emission of Bisphenol A to the Environment. Gehring, Martin1, Lars, Tennhardt1, Dirk, Vogel1, Diethelm, Weltin*,1, Bernd, Bilitewski1, 1 Dresden University of Technology, Pirna, Saxony, Germany ABSTRACT- In the search for sources of estrogenic endocrine disrupting compounds in wastewater, sewage sludge, and landfill leachates, hygiene papers, wastepaper, and cellulose have been analysed for bisphenol A (BPA) and, in part, for 4-tert-octylphenol (OP), 4-nonylphenol (NP), 4-nonylphenolmonoethoxylate (NP1EO), and 4-nonylphenoldiethoxylate (NP2EO). The results show that the three sorts of toilet paper studied, each made from 100 % recycled paper, are highly contaminated by up to 46.1 mg BPA/kg DM. The total BPA input with toilet paper to wastewater in Germany was calculated to 16.6 t/a. The BPA-concentrations in seven wastepaper fractions amounted to 0.093 to 4.23 mg/kg DM and obviously corresponded to the percentage of wastepaper used for paper production. The highest concentrations were determined in corrugated board and chromo board, whereas the lowest concentrations were detected in catalogues and magazines. Only 0.7 to 8.1 % of the BPA could be leached from wastepaper by means of the Ger-man standard leaching procedure DEV S4. Thus, a long-lasting emission of BPA from paper waste e.g. in landfills can be expected. In order to prove the hypothesis that the BPA does not derive from natural material, three different types of cellulose subsequently have been investigated for BPA. Indeed, BPA as well as OP was below the limit of quantification. NP, NP1EO, and NP2EO were determined in one of the three cellulose samples at very low concentrations of 35.7 to 164.3 Key words: endocrine disruptors, xenoestrogens, wastewater, recycled paper |
g/kg DM. The study presently is continued by carrying out examinations of the compounds listed above in thermo-sensitive papers, which are considered to be the main source for BPA in wastepaper, in packaging and plastics. Implications are discussed regarding the distribution of BPA during paper recycling and suggestions are made how to reduce the BPA mass flow to the aquatic and terrestrial environment.