Aquatic life criteria of hydrothermal liquefaction wastewater via ecotoxicity test and modeling

• Published in: Journal of hazardous materials Vol. 471; p. 134289
• Main Authors: Wang, Yueyao, Jiang, Lei, Ali, Mahmoud M., Jiang, Jinyue, Xu, Yongdong, Liu, Zhidan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 05-06-2024
• Subjects: Animals; Aquatic Organisms - drug effects; Ecological toxicity; Hydrothermal liquefaction; Interspecies correlation estimation models; Species sensitivity distributions; Toxicity Tests, Acute; Wastewater - chemistry; Wastewater - toxicity; Wastewater product; Water Pollutants, Chemical - chemistry; Water Pollutants, Chemical - toxicity; Species sensitivity distributions; Hydrothermal liquefaction; Interspecies correlation estimation models; Wastewater product; Ecological toxicity
• ISSN: 0304-3894; 1873-3336
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.134289

Wastewater resulting from hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL-AP) of biowaste is gaining attention as an emerging hazardous material. However, there is a lack of specific and systematic ecotoxicity studies on HTL-AP. This study addresses this gap by conducting acute toxicity tests on HTL-AP using typical aquatic species and integrating these results with predicted toxicity values from interspecies correlation estimation models to establish aquatic life criteria. HTL-AP exhibited significant toxicity with LC50 of 956.12–3645.4 mg/L, but demonstrated moderate toxicity compared to common freshwater pollutants like commercial microbicides, personal care products, and insect repellents. The resulting hazardous concentration for 5 % of species (HC5), the criterion maximum concentration, and the short-term water quality criteria for aquatic were 506.0, 253.0, and 168.7 mg/L, respectively. Notably, certain organisms like Misgurnus anguillicaudatus and Cipangopaludina chinensis showed high tolerance to HTL-AP, likely due to their metabolic capabilities on HTL-AP components. The significant decrease in HC5 values for some HTL-AP substances compared to pure compounds could indicate the synergistic inhibition effects among HTL-AP compositions. Furthermore, according to the established criteria, HTL-AP required significantly less diluted water (13 t) than carbendazim (1009 t) to achieve biosafety, indicating a safer release. This research establishes a preliminary water quality criterion for HTL-AP, offering a valuable reference for risk assessment and prediction in the utilization of HTL-AP within environmental contexts.
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•The ecotoxicity of HTL-AP was first systematically evaluated.•Water life criterion for HTL-AP was first derived based on testing and model.•A synergistic toxicity of compounds in HTL-AP was confirmed.•The metabolic effects of organisms contributed to the varied tolerances.•The biosafety of HTL-AP was estimated in different application scenarios.