Surrogates for the removal by ozonation of the cytotoxicity and DNA double-strand break effects of wastewater on mammalian cells

Abstract

Effluents from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) may contain various pollutants with potential toxic effects. Ozonation is widely applied to purify wastewater, which may influence the toxicity and water quality indices simultaneously. The main goal of this study was to reveal influence of ozonation on toxicity of WWTP effluents and to find the surrogates for toxicity changes. Cytotoxicity and DNA double-strand break (DSB) effect of WWTP effluents were measured based on Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. Changes of water quality parameters and molecular weight distribution of WWTP effluents were also measured. The organic extracts in WWTP effluents were shown to decrease the cell viability. Besides, an increased level of DNA DSBs was found in cells when exposed to the organic extracts. Ozonation significantly eliminated cytotoxicity and DNA DSB-based genotoxicity of WWTP effluents, with removal rates of 53–66% and 51–76% for cytotoxicity and genotoxicity, respectively, with 10 mg/L ozone dose. Although the DOC contents in WWTP effluents were hardly removed by ozonation, the chromophores and fluorophores were significantly eliminated. Organic matter in WWTP effluents mainly consists of fractions with molecular weight (MW) < 500 Da. Ozonation generally decreased the fluorescence intensity and UV254 values of all the MW fractions, but increased the DOC contents of the 100–500 Da fraction. During ozonation, the removal rates of UV254 and SUVA254 were significantly correlated to the removal rates of both cytotoxicity and genotoxicity. UV254 might be an ideal surrogate for cytotoxicity and genotoxicity reduction during wastewater ozonation. Keywords: Wastewater, Cytotoxicity, Genotoxicity, Ozonation, Surrogate