Effects of Peracetic Acid disinfectant on Daphnia magna

FLORES MARINA; BERTOLA GUIDO; BRANDI RODOLFO; LABAS MARISOL

Buenos Aires

Congreso; SETAC LATIN AMERICA 2015; 2015

Peracetic acid (PAA) is a strong oxidant and disinfectant. PAA is commercially available in the form of a quaternary equilibrium mixture containing: acetic acid (AA), hydrogen peroxide (HP), PAA and water. Due to its bactericidal, virucidal, fungicidal, and sporicidal effectiveness as demonstrated in various industries, the use of peracetic acid as a disinfectant for wastewater effluents has been drawing more attention in recent years. Some of the desirable attributes of commercial PAA are the ease of implementing treatment, small dependence of pH and the absence of production of significant amounts of toxic, mutagenic DBPs or chemical residual byproducts into effluents. The toxicity of peracetic acid can be explained by its oxidant activity. This oxidant activity and that of hydrogen peroxide can generate free radicals leading to oxidative stress in aquatic organisms. The hydroxyl radical activity of peracetic acid is lethal for bacteria and could be lethal for other organisms. The toxic potential of commercial peracetic acid, used also in the disinfection of urban wastewater, was evaluated with respect to an aquatic organism.