An uncertainty and sensitivity analysis applied to the prioritisation of pharmaceuticals as surface water contaminants from wastewater treatment plant direct emissions

Abstract

A B S T R A C TIn this study, the concentration probability distributions of 82 pharmaceutical compounds detected in the efflu-ents of 179 European wastewater treatment plants were computed and inserted into a multimedia fate model. The comparative ecotoxicological impact of the direct emission of these compounds from wastewater treatment plants on freshwater ecosystems, based on a potentially affected fraction (PAF) of species approach, was assessed to rank compounds based on priority. As many pharmaceuticals are acids or bases, the multimedia fate model accounts for regressions to estimate pH-dependent fate parameters. An uncertainty analysis was performed by means of Monte Carlo analysis, which included the uncertainty of fate and ecotoxicity model input variables, as well as the spatial variability of landscape characteristics on the European continental scale. Several pharma-ceutical compounds were identified as being of greatest concern, including 7 analgesics/antiinflammatories, 3 β-blockers, 3 psychiatric drugs, and 1 each of 6 other therapeutic classes. The fate and impact modelling relied extensively on estimated data, given that most of these compounds have little or no experimental fate or ecotoxicity data available, as well as a limited reported occurrence in effluents. The contribution of estimated model input variables to the variance of freshwater ecotoxicity impact, as well as the lack of experimental abiotic degradation data for most compounds, helped in establishing priorities for further testing. Generally, the effluent concentration and the ecotoxicity effect factor were the model input variables with the most significant effect on the uncertainty of output results.

Ecotoxicological risk assessment of organic compounds against various aquatic and terrestrial species: application of interspecies i-QSTTR and species sensitivity distribution techniques

“…Most of the collected works on SSDs targeted a small dataset size or a restricted group of species. 27–32 A few notable attempts made to assess the SSD profile of a chemical using QSAR predictions using a limited number of compounds and species were by Tetko et al , 2013 and others, 33–35 or using additional parameters to already defined SSD models as observed with works of Bejarano et al , 2017 36 and Bejarano 2019, 37 or without incorporating any experimental ecotoxicity data (based on predictions). 38 Again, some of the SSD works incorporated non-linear machine learning tools such as artificial neural networks which offer limited use from the regulatory perspective.…”

Modeling pharmaceutical emissions and their toxicity‐related effects in life cycle assessment (LCA): A review

“…The use of sewage sludge or recycled wastewater for agricultural purposes was also the subject of some of the analyzed case studies (e.g., Muñoz et al ; Hospido et al ). Additionally, some of the studies used LCIA models “solely” to rank and prioritize wastewater‐borne contaminants, including pharmaceuticals, in terms of their human and ecotoxicological impacts (Morais et al ; Ortiz de García et al ).…”

Distribution and Ecological Risk Assessment of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in Sediments of North Canal, China

“…Compared with the concentration of sediment, it can be observed that part of the PPCPs are enriched in the sediment during the infiltration of surface water, except IBU, into groundwater. Therefore, PPCPs in sediment have the risk of water diffusion to groundwater, and is a key indicator affecting the ecological risk to water environments [52][53][54].…”

“…PPCPs in most areas pose a threat to the ecosystem and may have adverse effects on aquatic organisms [52]; therefore, it is worth paying attention to the control and elimination of PPCPs in sediments. It is difficult to completely remove PPCPs in sediments of urban rivers, and their accumulation in sediments will affect the survival and reproduction of benthic animals as recently reported; CAF is a psychoactive compound with high ecotoxicological relevance in many other natural water domains.…”