Dataset Information

Distribution, Removal, and Risk Assessment of Pharmaceuticals and Their Metabolites in Five Sewage Plants.

ABSTRACT: The extensive use of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) leads to a continuous increase of their presence in urban wastewater. These pollutants are discharged into natural waters and pose a threat to human health and the ecological environment. This study focused on five sewage treatment plants in three cities of China's Yangtze River Delta as research sites to study the distribution and degradation of drugs and their conversion products in wastewater. The concentration of target compounds in the water ranged from 0 to 510.8 ng/L, and both positive and negative removal rates occurred during the treatment. Acetaminophen (ACE) and ibuprofen (IPF) can be completely removed in the biological treatment stage. The addition of flocculants and sand filtration has a positive effect on the removal of naproxen (NPX) and bezafibrate (BZB). Ultraviolet disinfection is beneficial for the removal of antipyrine (ATP) and diclofenac (DCF). A small amount of PPCPs were found in the sludge and particulate matter, which had little effect on removal. Finally, the risk quotients were used to evaluate the harmfulness of the PPCPs detected in the effluent to the ecological environment, and the results showed that there was little hazard.

SUBMITTER: Li Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6926846 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Distribution, Removal, and Risk Assessment of Pharmaceuticals and Their Metabolites in Five Sewage Plants.

Li Ying Y Niu Xiangming X Yao Chi C Yang Wen W Lu Guanghua G

International journal of environmental research and public health 20191127 23

The extensive use of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) leads to a continuous increase of their presence in urban wastewater. These pollutants are discharged into natural waters and pose a threat to human health and the ecological environment. This study focused on five sewage treatment plants in three cities of China's Yangtze River Delta as research sites to study the distribution and degradation of drugs and their conversion products in wastewater. The concentration of target ...[more]

PMID: 31783493

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Project description:The concentrations and distribution of β-blockers, lipid regulators, and psychiatric and cancer drugs in the influent and effluent of the municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and the effluent of 16 hospitals that discharge into the wastewater treatment plant mentioned in this study at two sampling dates in summer and winter were examined. The pharmaceutical contribution of hospitals to municipal wastewater was determined. The removal of target pharmaceuticals was evaluated in a WWTP consisting of conventional biological treatment using activated sludge. Additionally, the potential environmental risk for the aquatic receiving environments (salt lake) was assessed. Beta-blockers and psychiatric drugs were detected in high concentrations in the wastewater samples. Atenolol (919 ng/L) from β-blockers and carbamazepine (7008 ng/L) from psychiatric pharmaceuticals were detected at the highest concentrations in hospital wastewater. The total pharmaceutical concentration determined at the WWTP influent and effluent was between 335 and 737 ng/L in summer and between 174 and 226 ng/L in winter. The concentrations detected in hospital effluents are higher than the concentrations detected in WWTP. The total pharmaceutical contributions from hospitals to the WWTP in summer and winter were determined to be 2% and 4%, respectively. Total pharmaceutical removal in the WWTP ranged from 23 to 54%. According to the risk ratios, atenolol could pose a high risk (risk quotient > 10) for fish in summer and winter. There are different reasons for the increase in pharmaceutical consumption in recent years. One of these reasons is the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been going on for 2 years. In particular, hospitals were operated at full capacity during the pandemic, and the occurrence and concentration of pharmaceuticals used for the therapy of COVID-19 patients has increased in hospital effluent. Pandemic conditions have increased the tendency of people to use psychiatric drugs. It is thought that beta-blocker consumption has increased due to cardiovascular diseases caused by COVID-19. Therefore, the environmental risk of pharmaceuticals for aquatic organisms in hospital effluent should be monitored and evaluated.

Project description:Pharmaceuticals in drinking water sources have raised significant concerns due to their persistent input and potential human health risks. The seasonal occurrence of 25 pharmaceuticals including 23 antibiotics, paracetamol (PAR), and carbamazepine (CMZ) in Taihu Lake was investigated; meanwhile, the distribution and removal of these pharmaceuticals in two drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) and a constructed wetland were evaluated. A high detection frequency (>70%) in the Taihu Lake was observed for nearly all the 25 pharmaceutics. Chlortetracycline (234.7 ng L-1), chloramphenicol (27.1 ng L-1), erythromycin (72.6 ng L-1), PAR (71.7 ng L-1), and CMZP (23.6 ng L-1) are compounds with both a high detection frequency (100%) and the highest concentrations, suggesting their wide use in the Taihu Basin. Higher concentrations of chloramphenicols, macrolides, PAR, and CMZP were observed in dry season than in wet season, probably due to the low flow conditions of the lake in winter and the properties of pharmaceuticals. The overall contamination levels of antibiotic pharmaceutics (0.2-74.9 ng L-1) in the Taihu Lake were lower than or comparable to those reported worldwide. However, for nonantibiotic pharmaceutics, PAR (45.0 ng L-1) and CMZP (14.5 ng L-1), significantly higher concentrations were observed in the Taihu Lake than at a global scale. High detection frequencies of 25 pharmaceuticals were observed in both the two DWTPs (100%) and the wetland (>60%) except for florfenicol and sulfapyridine. The removal efficacies of the studied pharmaceuticals in DWTP B with advanced treatment processes including ozonation and granular activated carbon filtration (16.7-100%) were superior to DWTP A with conventional treatment processes (2.9-100%), except for sulfonamides. Wetland C with the constructed root channel technology was efficient (24.2-100%) for removing most pharmaceuticals. This work suggests that the application of cost-effective technologies such as constructed wetlands should be considered as an efficient alternative for removing pharmaceuticals from water supply sources.

Dataset Information

Distribution, Removal, and Risk Assessment of Pharmaceuticals and Their Metabolites in Five Sewage Plants.

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Distribution, Removal, and Risk Assessment of Pharmaceuticals and Their Metabolites in Five Sewage Plants.

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