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A messy situation: effects of treated human wastewater on aquatic biota
Summary
This study examined how treated wastewater containing pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and other micropollutants affects aquatic organisms including fish and invertebrates. It found that even after treatment, wastewater contains enough micropollutants to cause measurable biological effects in receiving water bodies.
Removal of personal care products (PCPs), pharmaceuticals and other substances \nfrom human wastewater is often unsuccessful and released back in to receiving water. \nThis includes anti-psychotics and cosmetic additives, and inorganic nitrogen. These \nsubstances are capable of producing unintended biological changes in aquatic biota \nlocated downstream from wastewater treatment plants. The present study examined \nwhether wastewater would cause adverse effects in aquatic biota. Medaka (Oryzias \nlatipes) and the zooplankton (Daphnia magna) were used in a controlled laboratory \nstudy. Medaka and Daphnia were exposed to 0 %, 50 % and 90 % wastewater. Mortality, \ndevelopment, and reproduction (only in Daphnia) were observed. Daphnia were exposed \nas neonates and the medaka were exposed as eggs and hatched larvae. There was a \nsignificant beneficial effect of wastewater on Daphnia mortality, growth and reproduction \n(p < 0.001). While in contrast, wastewater had a significant negative effect on the medaka \nrate of hatching and embryo mortality (p < 0.05). These outcomes suggest that there are \necologically important changes occurring as a result of the release of wastewater into \nnatural water bodies. In addition, this study also iterates the significance of using multiple \norganisms in environmental toxicological studies.
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