Application of EPA CMB8.2 model for source apportionment of sediment PAHs in Lake Calumet,Chicago

A chemical mass balance model developed by the U.S. EPA, CMB8.2, was used to apportion the major sources of PAHs found in the sediments of Lake Calumet and surrounding wetlands in southeast Chicago. The results indicate the feasibility of applying CMB8.2 to pollutants found in aquatic sediments. To establish the fingerprints of PAH sources, 28 source profiles were collected from the literature. Some of the source profiles were modified based on the gas/particle partitioning of individual PAHs. The profiles under the same source category were averaged, and the fingerprints of six sources were established, including coke oven, residential coal burning, coal combustion in power generation, gasoline engine exhaust, diesel engine exhaust, and traffic tunnel air. Nine model operations with a total of 422 runs were made, differing in the choice of fitting species and the sources involved. Modeling results indicate that coke ovens and traffic are the two major sources of PAHs in the area. For traffic sources, either traffic tunnel alone or both diesel and gasoline engine exhausts were entered into the model. These two groups of model operations produced comparable results with regard to the PAH contributions from road traffic. Although the steel industries have shrunk in recent years, closed and still-active coke plants continue to contribute significantly to the PAH loadings. Overall, the average contribution from coke oven emissions calculated by different operations ranges from 21% to 53% of all sources, and that from traffic ranges from 27% to 63%. The pattern of source contributions shows spatial and temporal variations.     

Source apportionment of atmospheric PAHs in the western Balkans by natural abundance radiocarbon analysis

Progress in source apportionment of priority combustion-derived atmospheric pollutants can be made by an inverse approach to inventory emissions, namely, receptor-based compound class-specific radiocarbon analysis (CCSRA) of target pollutants. In the present study, CCSRA of the combustion-derived polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) present in the atmosphere of the countries of the former republic of Yugoslavia was performed. The carbon stable isotope composition (delta13C) of PAHs varied between -27.68 and -27.19 per thousand, whereas delta14C values ranged from -568 per thousand for PAHs sampled in Kosovo to -288 per thousand for PAHs sampled in the Sarajevo area. The application of an isotopic mass balance model to these delta14C data revealed a significant contribution (35-65%) from the combustion of non-fossil material to the atmospheric PAH pollution, even in urban and industrialized areas. Furthermore, consistency was observed between the isotopic composition of PAHs obtained by high-volume sampling and those collected by passive sampling. This encourages the use of passive samplers for CCSRA applications. This marks the first time that a CCSRA investigation could be executed on a geographically wide scale, providing a quantitative field-based source apportionment, which points out that also non-fossil combustion processes should be targeted for remedial action.     

Source apportionment of PAH in Hamilton Harbour suspended sediments: comparison of two factor analysis methods

A total of 26 suspended sediment samples collected over a 5-year period in Hamilton Harbour, Ontario, Canada and surrounding creeks were analyzed for a suite of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and sulfur heterocycles. Hamilton Harbour sediments contain relatively high levels of polycyclic aromatic compounds and heavy metals due to emissions from industrial and mobile sources. Two receptor modeling methods using factor analyses were compared to determine the profiles and relative contributions of pollution sources to the harbor; these methods are principal component analyses (PCA) with multiple linear regression analysis (MLR) and positive matrix factorization (PMF). Both methods identified four factors and gave excellent correlation coefficients between predicted and measured levels of 25 aromatic compounds; both methods predicted similar contributions from coal tar/coal combustion sources to the harbor (19 and 26%, respectively). One PCA factor was identified as contributions from vehicular emissions (61%); PMF was able to differentiate vehicular emissions into two factors, one attributed to gasoline emissions sources (28%) and the other to diesel emissions sources (24%). Overall, PMF afforded better source identification than PCA with MLR. This work constitutes one of the few examples of the application of PMF to the source apportionment of sediments; the addition of sulfur heterocycles to the analyte list greatly aided in the source identification process.     

Source apportionment of PM2.5 at an urban IMPROVE site in Seattle, Washington

The multivariate receptor models Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) and Unmix were used along with the EPA's Chemical Mass Balance model to deduce the sources of PM2.5 at a centrally located urban site in Seattle, WA. A total of 289 filter samples were obtained with an IMPROVE sampler from 1996 through 1999 and were analyzed for 31 particulate elements including temperature-resolved fractions of the particulate organic and elemental carbon. All three receptor models predicted that the major sources of PM2.5 were vegetative burning (including wood stoves), mobile sources, and secondary particle formation with lesser contributions from resuspended soil and sea spray. The PMF and Unmix models were able to resolve a fuel oil combustion source as well as distinguish between diesel emissions and other mobile sources. In addition, the average source contribution estimates via PMF and Unmix agreed well with an existing emissions inventory. Using the temperature-resolved organic and elemental carbon fractions provided in the IMPROVE protocol, rather than the total organic and elemental carbon, allowed the Unmix model to separate diesel from other mobile sources. The PMF model was able to do this without the additional carbon species, relying on selected trace elements to distinguish the various combustion sources.     

Enhanced sorption of PAHs in natural-fire-impacted sediments from Oriole Lake, California

Surface sediment cores from Oriole Lake (CA) were analyzed for organic carbon (OC), black carbon (BC), and their δ(13)C isotope ratios. Sediments displayed high OC (20-25%) and increasing BC concentrations from ～0.40% (in 1800 C.E.) to ～0.60% dry weight (in 2000 C.E.). Petrographic analysis confirmed the presence of fire-derived carbonaceous particles/BC at ～2% of total OC. Natural fires were the most likely cause of both elevated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations and enhanced sorption in Oriole Lake sediments prior to 1850, consistent with their tree-ring-based fire history. In contrast to other PAHs, retene and perylene displayed decreasing concentrations during periods with natural fires, questioning their use as fire tracers. The occurrence of natural fires, however, did not result in elevated concentrations of black carbon or chars in the sediments. Only the 1912-2007 sediment layer contained anthropogenic particles, such as soot BC. In this layer, combining OC absorption with adsorption to soot BC (using a Freundlich coefficient n = 0.7) explained the observed sorption well. In the older layers, n needed to be 0.3 and 0.5 to explain the enhanced sorption to the sediments, indicating the importance of natural chars/inertinites in sorbing PAHs. For phenanthrene, values of n differed significantly between sorption to natural chars (0.1-0.4) and sorption to anthropogenic black carbon (>0.5), suggesting it could serve as an in situ probe of sorbents.     

Distributed sequestration and release of PAHs in weathered sediment: the role of sediment structure and organic carbon properties

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) contaminated sediments from Piles Creek (PC) and Newtown Creek (NC) in the NY/NJ Harbor estuary were separated into size fractions and further separated into low (<1.7 g cm(-3)) and high (>1.7 g cm(-3)) density fractions. The fractionated sediments were characterized for carbon content pore structure, surface area, and PAH concentration. Most PAHs (50-80%) in both sediments were associated with the low-density fraction, which represents only 3-15% of total sediment mass, at levels greater than expected based on equilibrium partitioning. PC low-density sediment had 10 times greater organic carbon-normalized equilibrium partitioning coefficients (Koc) than the other size fractions and whole sediment. Characterization of the sediment organic matter suggested that the preferential sequestration observed in PC sediment was not correlated with soot carbon but was likely due to the presence of detrital plant debris, an important food source for benthic animals. Fractional PAH desorption from whole PC sediment was significantly higher than from NC sediment after 3 months. For both sediments, a smaller percentage of the total PAHs was desorbed from the low-density fraction. However, because PAH concentrations were greatly elevated in these fractions, more PAH mass was desorbed than from the corresponding bulk and high-density fractions. These results demonstrate that PAHs are preferentially sequestered in a separable, low-density fraction at levels not predictable by equilibrium partitioning theory. Further, the low-density fraction apparently controls whole-sediment PAH release. Although plant debris appears to be an important sorbent for PAHs, this material may readily release PAHs into the aqueous phase.     

Source identification of fine particles in Washington, DC, by expanded factor analysis modeling

An expanded factor analysis model (ME-2) that is capable of taking into account the influence of independent variables such as wind speed, wind direction, time of year and other variables of the measured fine particle matter (PM2.5) concentration data was utilized for identifying sources of airborne pollutants and providing quantitative estimations of the contribution of each source. The chemical composition data used in this study were obtained from PM2.5 samples collected using the Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments samplers from August 1999 to December 2001 at an urban monitoring site in Washington, DC. The expanded model has been applied to two different data sets based on the particulate carbon variables. Such an approach had been successfully applied previously and provided improved source resolution in simulated and ambient concentration data. Initially, total OC and EC were used in the expanded model and were compared to the results using conventional positive matrix factorization that had been done previously using the individual carbon fractions data. In the other expanded model analysis, the eight carbon fractions were used during the modeling in order to ascertain if additional source information could be extracted from the data. In both cases, it was possible to separate diesel from spark-ignition vehicles. The use of the individual carbon fractions in the model provides information on what appears to be secondary organic aerosol formation.     

Source apportionment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the urban atmosphere: a comparison of three methods

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous pollutants in urban atmospheres. Several PAHs are known carcinogens or are the precursors to carcinogenic daughter compounds. Understanding the contributions of the various emission sources is critical to appropriately managing PAH levels in the environment. The sources of PAHs to ambient air in Baltimore, MD, were determined by using three source apportionment methods, principal component analysis with multiple linear regression, UNMIX, and positive matrix factorization. Determining the source apportionment through multiple techniques mitigates weaknesses in individual methods and strengthens the overlapping conclusions. Overall source contributions compare well among methods. Vehicles, both diesel and gasoline, contribute on average 16-26%, coal 28-36%, oil 15-23%, and wood/other having the greatest disparity of 23-35% of the total (gas- plus particle-phase) PAHs. Seasonal trends were found for both coal and oil. Coal was the dominate PAH source during the summer while oil dominated during the winter. Positive matrix factorization was the only method to segregate diesel from gasoline sources. These methods indicate the number and relative strength of PAH sources to the ambient urban atmosphere. As with all source apportionment techniques, these methods require the user to objectively interpret the resulting source profiles.     

Identification of Ah receptor agonists in sediment of Meiliang Bay, Taihu Lake, China

Deterioration of ecosystem and water quality in Taihu Lake, the third largest freshwater lake in China, is of great concern in China. However, most evaluations on water and sediment were carried out by chemical analysis, which could hardly gain information on the risk stressors affecting the system. Sediment samples from Meiliang Bay, Taihu Lake were assayed for AhR-mediated EROD induction using a rat hepatoma cell line (H4IIE). The known AhR agonists including PCDD/Fs, PCBs, and PAHs were analyzed by instruments. The cause-effect relationship between the observed EROD activity and chemical concentrations of AhR agonists and their dose-effect relationship were examined. Our results showed that sediment extracts could induce significant AhR effects, and the chemical-derived TCDD equivalents (TEQ(cal)) were significantly correlated to bioassay-derived TCDD equivalents (TEQ(bio)) (R = 0.85, p < 0.01). Among different contributors, PAHs could account for 70-93% and PCDD/Fs could contribute less than 30% of TEQ(cal). PCBs exhibited almost no contribution. Therefore, integration of EROD bioassay and chemical analysis provided an effective way for identifying the potential risk stressors. Underthis circumstance, a quantitative dose--effect relationship between TEQ(PAH) and EROD activity could be established, suggesting that the observed AhR effect was mostly derived from PAHs. The implication is that the EROD assay and the identified risk stressors (PAHs) may be used in lieu of detailed environmental analysis to follow the progression of a remediation strategy.     

Atmospheric mercury in the Lake Michigan basin: influence of the Chicago/Gary urban area

The relative importance of the Chicago/Gay urban area was investigated to determine its impact on atmospheric mercury (Hg) concentrations and wet deposition in the Lake Michigan basin. Event wet-only precipitation, total particulate, and vapor phase samples were collected for Hg, and trace element determinations from five sites around Lake Michigan from July 1994 through October 1995 as part of the Lake Michigan Mass Balance Study (LMMBS). In addition, intensive over-water measurements were conducted aboard the EPA research vessel Lake Guardian during the summer of 1994 and the winter of 1995 as part of the Atmospheric Exchange Over Lakes and Oceans Study. Atmospheric Hg concentrations were found to be significantly higher in the Chicago/Gary urban area than surrounding sites: Hg in precipitation was a factor of 2 and particulate Hg was a factor of 6 times higher. Overwater measurements found elevated Hg concentrations 19 km off shore of Chicago/Gary suggesting an enhanced near field atmospheric deposition to Lake Michigan. Meteorological transport analyses also determined that local sources in the Chicago/Gary urban area significantly impacted all of the LMMBS sites indicating a broad impact to the entire Lake Michigan basin.     

Persistence of pesticides in water,sediment and fish from fish farms in Kolleru Lake,India

Kolleru Lake is a freshwater lake in south‐eastern India with a high potential for aquaculture. It is located between 61°32′ and 61°47′N latitude and 81°15′ and 81°27′E longitude. Various chemicals such as pesticides are used to control diseases and ectoparasites in intensive aquaculture farms in India. The main aim of this paper was to determine selected pesticides in water, sediment and fish from 12 fish farms located in Kolleru Lake in order to assess the quality of fish for human consumption and to improve the further risk assessment and management of such chemicals in aquaculture and also to evaluate the impact of aquaculture chemicals on the Kolleru Lake environment. The chemicals used in intensive aquaculture farms were documented. Water, sediment and fish samples were collected from the fish farms during the production period and analysed for the pesticides α‐BHC, γ‐BHC, malathion, chloropyrifos, isodrin, endosulfan, dieldrin and p,p′‐DDT using gas chromatography. © 2002 Society of Chemical Industry     

Occurence of pesticides in fish tissues,water and soil sediment from Manzala Lake and River Nile

Pesticides constitute the major source of potential environmental hazard to man and animal as they are present and concentrated in the food chain. This study was conducted on 136 samples of water, sediment and fish for detection and determination of pesticide residues in this ecosystem. Highly significant differences were found in levels of lindan, heptachlor, endrin, dieldrin, P,P′-DDE and propoxur in River Nile water when compared with that of Manzala Lake. Levels of lindan, endrin, malathion and diazinon were significantly higher in soil sediment of Manzala Lake, while the levels of heptachlor, aldrine, P,P′-DDE, DDT, parathion, propoxur and zectran were significantly higher in soil sediment of River Nile. Boury fish of Manzala Lake contained higher levels of heptachlor, aldrin, P,P′-DDE and malathion, while boury fish of River Nile contained a higher level of zectran only. This survey, thus indicated that Manzala Lake and even the River Nile which was used as control are heavily contaminated with chlorinated hydrocarbons (lindan, heptachlor, aldrin, endrin, dieldrin, P,P′-DDE and DDT), organic phosphorus compounds (malathion, dimethoat, diazinon and parathion) and carbamate pesticides (propoxur and zectran).     

Development of a multichemical food web model: application to PBDEs in Lake Ellasjoen, Bear Island, Norway

A multichemical food web model has been developed to estimate the biomagnification of interconverting chemicals in aquatic food webs. We extended a fugacity-based food web model for single chemicals to account for reversible and irreversible biotransformation among a parent chemical and transformation products, by simultaneously solving mass balance equations of the chemicals using a matrix solution. The model can be applied to any number of chemicals and organisms or taxonomic groups in a food web. The model was illustratively applied to four PBDE congeners, BDE-47, -99, -100, and -153, in the food web of Lake Ellasj?en, Bear Island, Norway. In Ellasj?en arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus), the multichemical model estimated PBDE biotransformation from higher to lower brominated congeners and improved the correspondence between estimated and measured concentrations in comparison to estimates from the single-chemical food web model. The underestimation of BDE-47, even after considering bioformation due to biotransformation of the otherthree congeners, suggests its formation from additional biotransformation pathways not considered in this application. The model estimates approximate values for congener-specific biotransformation half-lives of 5.7,0.8,1.14, and 0.45 years for BDE-47, -99, -100, and -153, respectively, in large arctic char (S. alpinus) of Lake Ellasj?en.     

Changes in enantiomeric fractions during microbial reductive dechlorination of PCB132, PCB149, and araclor 1254 in Lake Hartwell sediment microcosms

The enantioselectivity of microbial reductive dechlorination of chiral PCBs in sediments from Lake Hartwell, SC, was determined by microcosm studies and enantiomer-specific GC analysis. Sediments from two locations in the vicinity of the highest levels of PCB contamination were used as inocula. Dechlorination activity was monitored by concentration decreases in the spiked chiral PCBs and formation of dechlorination products using both achiral and chiral chromatography. Live microcosms spiked with PCB132 (234-236) exhibited dechlorination of PCB132 to PCB91 (236-24) and PCB51 (24-26). Meta dechlorination was the dominant mechanism. Microcosms spiked with PCB149 (245-236) exhibited preferential para dechlorination of PCB149 to PCB95 (236-25), followed by meta dechlorination to PCB53 (25-26) and subsequently PCB19 (26-2). Dechlorination of chiral PCB132 and PCB149 was not enantioselective. In Aroclor 1254-spiked microcosms, reductive dechlorination of PCB149 also was nonenantioselective. These results suggest that dechlorinating enzymes responsible for the dehalogenation of the chiral PCB132 and PCB149 congeners bind the two enantiomers equally. Reductive dechlorination of PCB91 and PCB95, however, occurred in an enantioselective manner, indicating that the dechlorinating enzymes for these PCBs are enantiomer-specific. The chlorine substitution pattern on the biphenyl ring appears to influence whether reductive dechlorination of chiral PCB congeners is enantioselective. Enantioselective PCB dechlorination by the microbial population of Lake Hartwell sediments occurs for select chiral PCBs; thus, certain chiral PCBs might be useful as markers for in situ reductive dechlorination.     

Characterization of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in different size fractions in deposited road particles (DRPs) from Lake Biwa area, Japan

Deposited road particles (DRPs) collected from 13 heavily traveled roadways in an urban area of Southern Lake Biwa, Japan, were analyzed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in seven different particle size fractions (< or = 20 to 1000-2000 microm) and evaluated for the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) ligand activity by using a yeast bioassay. The mean compositions of individual PAHs to total PAH concentrations in different particle size fractions were 19-21% for pyrene, which was the most dominant component, 14-16% for fluoranthene, and 7-13% for benzo[g,h,i]perylene, which were the next dominant components. The total PAH distribution pattern in different particle size fractions of DRPs was different from the organic matter distribution pattern which increased with decreasing particle size of DRPs, and could be explained by the differences in their sources. Moreover, AhR ligand activities were observed in the DRP extracts of all size fractions. The activity of the DRP extracts from the smallest size fraction was approximately 5 times more potent than that of the largest size fraction in a yeast AhR ligand activity assay. The mean contribution (%) of benzo[k]-fluoranthene, chrysene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, and benzo[a]pyrene to the AhR activity of DRP extracts in all size fractions was 1.43-4.11%, 1.63-3.53%, 0.63-1.69%, and 0.31-1.42%, respectively. Although the contribution of PAHs to AhR ligand activity presented in the DRP extracts was relatively low (below 10%), it may be best to remove these DRPs before discharge to receiving water environments.     

PCB loading from sediment in the Hudson River: congener signature analysis of pathways

The upper Hudson River (NY) was subjected to massive PCB contamination over a period of three decades. A large inventory of PCBs remains in contaminated sediments of the river, most notably in the Thompson Island Pool. During the summer, flow crossing the Thompson Island Pool exhibits a large and consistent PCB load gain. This load gain is not associated with scouring flows and is not accompanied by an increase in suspended solids. A variety of hypotheses have been proposed to explain this load gain, including flux of contaminated porewater and dissolution of unverified reservoirs of pure PCBs. A wealth of congener-specific PCB data is available for the site throughout the 1990s. Interpretation of the Thompson Island Pool load gain is facilitated by examination of the PCB congener signature of the gain and comparison to the signature of potential sources. This examination suggests that neither the flux of porewater nor the dissolution of unaltered Aroclors are the predominant source of the load gain. Instead, the congener signature is consistent with a mixed source consisting of porewater flux and non-scour flux of contaminated sediments. The non-scour sediment flux, which reaches a maximum in the beginning of the summer growing season, is likely driven by a variety of biological and anthropogenic processes, including bioturbation by benthic organisms, bioturbation by demersal fish, scour by propwash, mechanical scour by boats and floating debris in nearshore areas, and uprooting of macrophytes.     

Salmonellosis in finishing pigs in Spain: prevalence, antimicrobial agent susceptibilities, and risk factor analysis

A herd-based survey of Salmonella in pigs was carried in a major pig producing region of Spain. Mesenteric lymph nodes were collected from the carcasses of 25 pigs from each of 80 herds at time of slaughter. Salmonella spp. were isolated from 31% of animals and 94% of herds. Within-herd prevalence ranged from 4 to 88%, with the prevalence in most herds being greater than 10%. A large diversity of Salmonella serotypes was found, with Typhimurium, 4,[5],12:i:-, and Rissen being the most prevalent. Two or more serotypes coexisted in 73% of the herds. Salmonella Typhimurium was present in 68% of the herds. Most (82%) of the Salmonella isolates belonged to serogroups targeted by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay tests for pig salmonellosis. Resistance to at least one antimicrobial agent was detected in 73% of the strains, and one or more resistant strains were recovered from pigs in 93% of the herds. Antimicrobial agent resistance (AR) was more frequent among the most prevalent than it was among the rarer serotypes. Twenty-five multi-AR patterns were found. Resistance to three or more families of antimicrobial agents was found in 75% of AR strains. The finding that many of the herds yielded isolates of several multi-AR patterns indicates that Salmonella infections were acquired from multiple sources. High prevalence of Salmonella in herds was associated with lack of rodent control programs, herds from farms with only finishing pigs, herds managed by more than one full-time worker, herds for which the source of drinking water was not a city supply, and relatively long fattening times.     

Recent trends in the microbial production,analysis and application of Fructooligosaccharides

This review focuses on the recent developments in the area of FOS research—its microbial production, functional properties and applications and an overview of the different analytical methods for the determination of the FTase. Different microbial sources of FTase reported in literature to produce FOS with different linkages to form 1-kestose, 6-kestose and neokestose in varying yields based on initial sucrose concentration is discussed. Different fermentative methods have been used for production of FOS. SSF has been used for the production of a value added product FOS utilizing various agroindustrial byproducts. The nutritional and culture parameters when optimized, the FOS yields and productivity could be improved. The use of immobilized enzymes and cells has led to the development of effective and economic methods for large-scale production of FOS. Forced flow Membrane reactor systems, biocatalyst system with a bioreactor equipped with a microfiltration systems, have been used for production of high content FOS by removing the released glucose and unreacted sucrose from the reaction mixture resulting in up to 98% FOS. The use of mixed enzyme system of Fructosyl Transferase and glucose oxidase or glucose dehydrogenase, could produce highly concentrated FOS up to 90–98%. Nano-filtration for removing glucose resulted in FOS of 90% concentration. The purified enzyme was found to produce kestose and nystose unlike the crude enzyme which produced GF₅ and GF₆ oligosaccharides Kinetic parameters (V_m, K_m, and K_i) of the enzyme were determined from experimental data on the transfructosylation rate at various substrate concentrations with and without addition of glucose Techniques like HPLC, using polar-bonded phase and resin-based HPLC columns are commonly used for separation of oligosaccharides with refractive Index Detector or pulsed amperometric detector and annular size exclusion chromatography for large scale and continuous fractionation. Other techniques like gas liquid chromatography, thin layer chromatography, NMR and Mass Spectrometry have been used for structure analyses. The functional properties like use as prebiotics, dietary fiber, role in absorption and defense/Immunity, lipid metabolism control of diabetics have been discussed. A variety of applications in food formulations are also discussed.     

Whey filtration: a review of products,application, and pretreatment with transglutaminase enzyme

In the cheese industry, whey, which is rich in lactose and proteins, is underutilized, causing adverse environmental impacts. The fractionation of its components, typically carried out through filtration membranes, faces operational challenges such as membrane fouling, significant protein loss during the process, and extended operating times. These challenges require attention and specific methods for optimization and to increase efficiency. A promising strategy to enhance industry efficiency and sustainability is the use of enzymatic pre-treatment with the enzyme transglutaminase (TGase). This enzyme plays a crucial role in protein modification, catalyzing covalent cross-links between lysine and glutamine residues, increasing the molecular weight of proteins, facilitating their retention on membranes, and contributing to the improvement of the quality of the final products. The aim of this study is to review the application of the enzyme TGase as a pretreatment in whey protein filtration. The scope involves assessing the enzyme's impact on whey protein properties and its relationship with process performance. It also aims to identify both the optimization of operational parameters and the enhancement of product characteristics. This study demonstrates that the application of TGase leads to improved performance in protein concentration, lactose permeation, and permeate flux rate during the filtration process. It also has the capacity to enhance protein solubility, viscosity, thermal stability, and protein gelation in whey. In this context, it is relevant for enhancing the characteristics of whey, thereby contributing to the production of higher quality final products in the food industry. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.