PANACEE : Evaluation of the Functioning of a Membrane Bioreactor Treating Hospital Oncological Effluent
Within the framework of the ANR project "Panacea", we monitored the performance of a Membrane Bioreactor (BaM) in Purpan hospital (hematology department, Toulouse). The three aims of this project were: i) the identification and the quantification of molecules, used in cancer therapies, in the effluents of the corresponding departments; ii) the measure of biological effects (eco- / géno- / cyto-toxic and endocrine disruptors); and iii) the development of a treatment process consisting of a combination of biological and physicochemical treatments. The sampling protocols and the results of the physicochemical analyses are presented, as well as the quantification of 125 pharmaceutical molecules, allowing us to describe the variability of the hospital effluent. From the treatment point of view, the BaM was operated with an effective sludge retention time of 40 days and the study consisted of estimating the effect of the hydraulic residence time (HRT), the other parameters being equal. Two campaigns were carried out for HRT = 24 and 48 h. The observed differences are not necessarily attributable to the different HRTs. From a hydraulic point of view, the observed filtration performances are satisfactory, considering the operating conditions (no back-flushing, sequential filtration). The quality parameters of the treated water meet the discharge standards. The quantitative chemical analyses show very variable removal of the pharmaceutical molecules during the BAM treatment, ranging from total elimination to the "production" of molecules, suggesting the operation of decomplexation phenomena. On the same samples, a battery of ecotoxicity tests was applied. These tests showed a great lowering of the global ecotoxicity. A partial conclusion on the relevance of the BaM treatment is proposed.