TY - JOUR
T1 - Organic pollutants in shale gas flowback and produced waters
T2 - identification, potential ecological impact and implications for treatment strategies
AU - Butkovskyi, Andrii
AU - Bruning, Harry
AU - Kools, Stefan A E
AU - Rijnaarts, Huub H M
AU - van Wezel, Annemarie P
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - Organic contaminants in shale gas flowback and produced water (FPW) are traditionally expressed as total organic carbon (TOC) or chemical oxygen demand (COD), though these parameters do not provide information on the toxicity and environmental fate of individual components. This review addresses identification of individual organic contaminants in FPW, and stresses the gaps in the knowledge on FPW composition that exist so far. Furthermore, the risk quotient approach was applied to predict the toxicity of the quantified organic compounds for fresh water organisms in recipient surface waters. This resulted in an identification of a number of FPW related organic compounds that are potentially harmful namely those compounds originating from shale formations (e.g. polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, phthalates), fracturing fluids (e.g. quaternary ammonium biocides, 2-butoxyethanol) and downhole transformations of organic compounds (e.g. carbon disulphide, halogenated organic compounds). Removal of these compounds by FPW treatment processes is reviewed and potential and efficient abatement strategies are defined.
AB - Organic contaminants in shale gas flowback and produced water (FPW) are traditionally expressed as total organic carbon (TOC) or chemical oxygen demand (COD), though these parameters do not provide information on the toxicity and environmental fate of individual components. This review addresses identification of individual organic contaminants in FPW, and stresses the gaps in the knowledge on FPW composition that exist so far. Furthermore, the risk quotient approach was applied to predict the toxicity of the quantified organic compounds for fresh water organisms in recipient surface waters. This resulted in an identification of a number of FPW related organic compounds that are potentially harmful namely those compounds originating from shale formations (e.g. polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, phthalates), fracturing fluids (e.g. quaternary ammonium biocides, 2-butoxyethanol) and downhole transformations of organic compounds (e.g. carbon disulphide, halogenated organic compounds). Removal of these compounds by FPW treatment processes is reviewed and potential and efficient abatement strategies are defined.
U2 - 10.1021/acs.est.6b05640
DO - 10.1021/acs.est.6b05640
M3 - Article
C2 - 28376616
SN - 0013-936X
VL - 51
SP - 4740
EP - 4754
JO - Environmental Science and Technology
JF - Environmental Science and Technology
IS - 9
ER -