Fate of Malathion in an Activated Sludge Municipal Wastewater Treatment System

Abstract

Organophosphate compounds are used as pesticides and in chemical warfare agents such as nerve agents. VX (O-ethyl S-[2-(diisopropylamino)ethyl] methylphosphonothioate) is one of the most toxic and environmentally persistent of these nerve agents. This research examined the fate of malathion, a pesticide and surrogate of VX (O-ethyl S-[2-(diisopropylamino)ethyl] methylphosphonothioate), in bench-scale activated sludge (AS) sequencing batch reactors. Sorption kinetics and sorption equilibrium isotherm experiments indicate that sorption to AS biomass was not a statistically important removal mechanism. However, approximately 90% of the initial 4.25 mg L-1 malathion concentration degraded primarily via heterotrophic activity.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 2013
Accession Number
ADA584318

Entities

People

  • Edward B. Walters

Organizations

  • Air Force Institute of Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Batch Reactors
  • Chemical Synthesis
  • Chemical Warfare
  • Chemical Warfare Agents
  • Chemical Weapons
  • Chemistry
  • Ecology
  • Ecotoxicology
  • Environment
  • Enzyme Inhibitors
  • Fatty Acids
  • Liquid Chromatography
  • Medical Personnel
  • Nerve Agents
  • Organophosphates
  • Pesticides

Readers

  • Environmental Engineering.
  • Groundwater Contamination Remediation.
  • Neurotoxicology