Evaluation on estrogenicity and oxidative hepatotoxicity of fossil fuel industrial wastewater before and after the powdered activated carbon treatment

There are 10 manufacturers who produce fossil fuel products in the Da-Hse Industrial District, Kaohsiung County, southwestern Taiwan. Before discharging the wastewater into the nearby aquatic environment, the pretreated wastewater from these manufacturers must be processed in a treatment plant which includes four major processing units: equalization, a primary clarifier, an aeration basin, and a final clarifier. In order to estimate the potential environmental risks of industrial wastewater from each manufacturer and the treatment efficiency of the powdered activated carbon treatment (PACT) system used in this wastewater treatment plant, in vitro bioassays for estrogenicity and oxidative hepatotoxicity were carried out using a stably transfected human breast cancer cell line, MVLN, and a human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line, HepG2, respectively. Estrogenic substances occurred in nine of 10 pretreated wastewaters from these manufacturers in which the relative luciferase activity ranged from 18.9% to 98.0% for 1-fold-condensed wastewaters corresponding to the concentration of the original wastewater. The estrogenicity was highest at the influent of the treatment plant and decreased through the treatment process. About 81% estrogenicity clearance was found through all processing units. On the other hand, oxidative hepatotoxic substances existed in seven of 10 pretreated wastewaters from these manufacturers in which relative TBARs activity ranged from 18.5% to 43.0% for 1-fold-condensed wastewater. The TBARs of influent samples apparently decreased through the processing units until the aeration basin, but abruptly rose in the final clarifier, which was a result of the addition of an active charcoal-retrieving agent with the molecular formula of (C2H3)nCONHCH2N(CH3)3Cl and which had high TBARs activity. No TBARs activity being found in effluent samples could be a consequence of allowing sufficient time for coagulation between the active charcoal and its retrieval agent which decreased the residual active charcoal-retrieving agent. We concluded that the industrial wastewater treatment plant using the PACT system in the Da-Hse Industrial District is suitable for removing estrogenic substances and oxidative hepatotoxic substances discharged from these industrial manufacturers.