A test for adequate wastewater treatment based on glutathione S transferase isoenzyme profile

Abstract

Discharge to the environment of treated or non-treated municipal wastewater imposes several threats to coastal and estuarine ecosystems which are difficult to assess. In our study we evaluate the use of the isoenzyme profile of glutathione S transferase (GST) in combination with the kinetic characteristics of the whole enzyme and of heme peroxidase, as a test of adequate treatment of municipal wastewater. For this reason, Artemia nauplii were incubated in artificial seawater prepared by wastewater samples, such as secondary municipal effluents produced by a conventional activated sludge unit and advanced treated effluents produced by the employment of coagulation, activated carbon adsorption and chlorination as single processes or as combined ones. Characteristic changes of the isoenzyme pattern and the enzymes' kinetic properties were caused by chlorinated secondary municipal effluent or by secondary non-chlorinated effluent. Advanced treatment by combination of coagulation and/or carbon adsorption resulted to less prominent changes, suggesting more adequate treatment. Our results suggest that GST isoenzyme profile in combination with the kinetic properties of the total enzyme family is a sensitive test for the evaluation of the adequateness of the treatment of reclaimed wastewater and the reduction of potentially harmful compounds. Potentially, it may offer a 'fingerprint' characteristic of a particular effluent and probably of the treatment level it has been subjected.