INVESTIGATION OF THE SOURCE AND THE PATH OF BISPHENOL-A DISCHARGED FROM A HOUSING DEVELOPMENT THROUGH DOMESTIC WASTEWATER

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical organic compound that is used as the material of plastic products and is suspected endocrine disruptors action (environmental hormones action). This study aimed to clarify the source and path of BPA discharged from a housing development through domestic wastewater. The mean concentrations of BPA in inflow investigated by 1-week research and 24 hours research at wastewater treatment facility of A-housing development in Hiroshima Prefecture were in the range of 0.12 - 0.22 μg/L. The particulate fraction accounted for approximate half of total BPA in the wastewater. The discharge load of BPA from A-housing development was calculated to be 189 - 333 mg/day. On the other hand, BPA discharge load from several kinds of domestic wastewater in home such as the effluents from a washing machine and a dishwasher were studied and it was estimated that the sum of the investigated individual BPA discharge was equivalent to 15 % of the inflow load to the wastewater treatment facility mentioned above. Therefore, it was suggested that the investigations of the nonpoint emission source of BPA such as the inside of drainpipe were necessary.