INVESTIGATIONS OF THE ORIGIN OF PCDD F IN MUNICIPAL SEWAGE-SLUDGE/

The contributions of surface runoff and houshold wastewater to the PCD D/F levels in sewage sludge were investigated. The PCDD/F homologue pa tterns in household wastewater and laundry wastewater were very simila r to those in sewage sludge and in sewer sediments from the wastewater -system in Bayreuth (FRG), whereas the patterns in surface runoff and sewage sludge were different. A crude mass balance indicated that 2-7 times more of the PCDD/F in sewage sludge originates from households t han from runoff. These results suggest that the importance of househol d wastewater as a PCDD/F source has been underestimated.