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Quaternary ammonium compounds in wastewater treatment effluents from 2020 to 2021

Metadata Updated: November 19, 2025

Quaternary ammonium compounds (QAC) are used in many commercial and household disinfection products. A method was developed to measure QAC occurrence in water discharged from three wastewater treatment plants during 2020 and 2021. Water samples (20 mL) were processed via solid phase extraction using weak cation exchange (WCX) cartridges (3 cc, 60 mg) and analyzed via liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Samples were analyzed for 12 QACs including benzethonium, six benzylalkyldimethyl ammonium compounds (BAC), three dialkyldimethyl ammonium compounds (DADMAC), and two ethylbenzylalkyldimethyl ammonium compounds (EBACs). QACs were detected in 100% of WWTP effluents with individual concentrations ranging 2.30-1,630 ng/L and total QAC concentrations (ΣQAC, the sum of 12 QAC) ranged 38.1-3,450 ng/L. The average concentrations of QACs detected in effluents was 49% BAC (average ΣBAC = 168 ng/L), 38% DADMAC (average ΣDADMAC = 119 ng/L), 9% EBACs (ΣEBAC = 25.0 ng/L), and 4% benzethonium (15.6 ng/L).

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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Dates

Metadata Created Date September 12, 2025
Metadata Updated Date November 19, 2025

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date September 12, 2025
Metadata Updated Date November 19, 2025
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/usgs-65af003fd34ef34c3506d8a8
Data Last Modified 2024-11-19T00:00:00Z
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id 1196ef4b-07b7-4453-af20-0b145a0a62a1
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash ccbca5922e40707d7cf2b32220995f0a43e31e4dcf2effb5a577b9a96a535318
Source Schema Version 1.1

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