Assessing the impact of organic and inorganic micropollutants released from a wastewater treatment plant on humans and aquatic environment, Al-Hoceima city, Morocco

Abstract

Wastewater contains a variety of compounds qualified as pollutants. These undergo incomplete treatment in wastewater treatment plants. The objective of this study is to determine the potential impacts on humans and aquatic environment of 46 organic and inorganic micropollutants using the USE-tox® model. The concentrations used in this study are obtained by analyzing raw and treated wastewater from the wastewater treatment plant of the city of Al-Hoceima, Morocco. The total human health impact score is 10−2, generally varying between 10−3 and 10−9. Ba, Hg, Zn and Cd had the highest score with a percentage of 92 % of the total score. For the aquatic environment, impact was estimated for 25 compounds. Pyrene, Anthracene, Benzo(a)Anthracene, Fluoranthene and PCB-77 were the major contributors with an impact ranging from 3.43E+02–1.21E+01 PDF.m3.d. With a value of 3.43E+02, Pyrene had the highest impact, contributing 73 % by itself.

Keywords

• Aquatic environment
• Human health
• Impact assessment
• Wastewater treatment plant