Transport and fate of silver as polymer-stabilised nanoparticles and ions in a pilot wastewater treatment plant, followed by sludge digestion and disposal of sludge/soil mixtures: A case study

A case study of transport and changes in properties of polymer-stabilised Ag NPs is presented in this paper investigating their interaction in different treatment steps within a fully realistic pilot wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), in anaerobic digested sludge, and in soil/sludge mixtures. The fate of the same Ag NPs was tracked in these environments, hence taking the history of the Ag NPs into account. The results show that most of the Ag NPs end up in the sludge (80–100%), also after anaerobically digestion. Furthermore, the fraction of silver in the supernatant was very low after 48 h incubation with silver-containing digested sludge mixed with different soil types. However, when Ag NPs were added directly to the sludge/soil mixture, soluble silver was present in the supernatant with sandy soil, but not with clayey soil. In all, generated findings show that risk assessments and toxicological studies of Ag NPs suspensions must take into account possible chemical and particle transformations upon environmental entry, as silver in general become less soluble when transported to WWTPs and interacting with sludge, and soil.