A great number of synthetic organic compounds have been detected into the aquatic environment. Some of them such as endocrine disrupters, perfluorinated compounds, benzotriazoles, benzothiazoles and artificial sweeteners are contained in every day products. As a result they often detected in Sewage Treatment Plants and domestic wastewater seems to be the major way for their transfer to the environment. Most of these compounds are not included in European or national legislations and they characterized as emerging contaminants.

   

WATERMICROP aims to investigate the occurrence and behavior of different categories of emerging contaminants during wastewater and sludge treatment and to study their fate during wastewater disposal. Identification of transformation products will also be performed using advanced chromatographic analyses and proteomics techniques.

   

The specific objectives of WATERMICROP are:

1. To develop analytical methods for the determination of emerging contaminants in environmental samples

2. To study the occurrence of emerging contaminants in Greek in Sewage Treatment Plants

3. To investigate the fate of emerging contaminants during biological and physicochemical wastewater treatment processes and to study their behavior during wastewater disposal to the aquatic environment

4. To identify the metabolites which are formed due to (bio)transformation of emerging contaminants contained in domestic wastewater

For the implementation of WATERMICROP, an interdisciplinary approach will be followed and scientists with different academic background (chemists, environmental engineers and environmental scientists) will be cooperated. Work Packages will be implemented by three cooperating Research Teams (RT1, RT2, RT3), consisting of scientists originating from University of the Aegean (UA), National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUT) and Technical University of Denmark DTU).

 

Budget: 600.000 €

Duration: 01 January 2012 - 30 September 2015

Coordination: University of the Aegean, Greece

 

Contact:

Assistant Professor Athanasios S. Stasinakis (Coordinator and RT1 Leader)

Department of Environment

University of the Aegean

Mytilene 81100, Greece

Phone: 0030 22510 36257

Email: astas@env.aegean.gr

 

Assistant Professor Daniel Mamais (RT2 Leader)

School of Civil Engineering

National Technical University of Athens

Zografou, Athens 15773, Greece

Phone: 0030 210 7722901

Email: mamais@central.ntua.gr

 

Assistant Professor Nikolaos S. Thomaidis (RT3 Leader)

Department of Chemistry

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

Zografou, Athens 157 71, Greece

Phone: 0030 210 7274317

Email: ntho@chem.uoa.gr