Assessing the removal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in a full-scale activated sludge plant

Salgado, Ricardo; Marques, Ricardo; Noronha, João Paulo; Carvalho, Gilda; Oehmen, Adrian; Reis, Maria A.M.

doi:10.1007/s11356-011-0693-z

Cited by 149 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…This is due to low biodegradability caused by the presence of Cl atoms and N-H group that inhibit the growth of bacteria in wastewater. Diclofenac can be also removed through photolysis (25-75%) [19,20]. The application of membrane filters allows the removal of diclofenac by about 58%.…”

Section: Diclofenacmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fate and Removal of Pharmaceuticals and Illegal Drugs Present in Drinking Water and Wastewater

Szymonik

Lach

Malińska

2017

Ecological Chemistry and Engineering S

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Rapid development of pharmaceutical industry, and thus widespread availability of different types of therapeutical and increased intake of pharmaceuticals, results in elevated concentrations of pharmaceuticals in municipal wastewater subjected to treatment in wastewater treatment plants. Pharmaceuticals present in raw wastewater discharged from hospitals, households, veterinary and health care clinics eventually end up in wastewater treatment plants. Commonly applied methods for treating wastewater do not allow complete removal of these contaminants. As a consequence, pharmaceuticals still present in treated wastewater are introduced to water environment. The most frequently identified pharmaceuticals in surface water belong to the following groups: non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs, beta-blockers, estrogens and lipid regulators. The most difficult is removal of diclofenac, clofibric acid and carbamazepine as these substances show low biodegradability. Diclofenac can be removed in the process of wastewater treatment by 40%, carbamazepine by 10%, and clofibric acid from 26 to 50%. The presence of diclofenac sodium in the rivers in Poland was confirmed and the concentrations were following: 380 ng/dm 3 (the Warta river), 470 ng/dm 3 (the Odra river), 140 ng/dm 3 (the Vistula river). Naproxene was found in the Warta river at the concentration of 100 ng/dm 3 . The presence of pharmaceuticals in surface water can be toxic to aqueous microorganisms and fish. Recent studies confirmed also the presence of pharmaceuticals in drinking water. This is considered as a problem especially in urban agglomerations such as Berlin or large cities in Spain and China. The studies showed that pharmaceuticals were also identified in the samples taken from the Polish rivers and drinking water. The presence of naproxene and diclofenac at the concentrations of 13 and 4 ng/dm 3 was identified in drinking water sampled from water intakes in Poznan. Surface water and drinking water showed also the presence of illegal drugs.

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Section: Diclofenacmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sedimentation allows the removal of 12-45%. However, the main mechanism behind this process is decomposition to hydroxyl and carbonyl groups, and the products of decomposition are removed through membrane filtration [19,20]. Ibuprofen is efficiently removed through adsorption on activated carbons (up to 99%) and ozonation (up to 80%) [7].…”

Section: Ibuprofenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fate and Removal of Pharmaceuticals and Illegal Drugs Present in Drinking Water and Wastewater

Szymonik

Lach

Malińska

2017

Ecological Chemistry and Engineering S

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“…In the latter case, the level of the investigated compound is higher in the effluent than that in the influent to one of the treatment units or over the entire WWTP (Blair et al, 2013). Reasons for this can include the release of fecal particles during wastewater treatment, significant desorption from the return activated sludge thereby increasing their concentration throughout the treatment process (Göbel et al, 2007;Salgado et al, 2012) or the transformation of conjugate compounds to the parent compound during biological treatment (Monteiro and Boxall, 2010;Salgado et al, 2012). Negative removals for compounds that are not excreted from the human body, such as pesticides, pharmaceuticals and personal care products have also been reported, making the latter reason less likely.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of approach used to determine removal levels of drugs of abuse during wastewater treatment

Rodayan

Majewsky

Yargeau

2014

Science of The Total Environment

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• 19 drugs of abuse were studied throughout a wastewater treatment plant.• Drug levels were generally comparable between composite, POCIS and grab samples.• Overall drug removals during wastewater treatment varied between −84 and 90%.• Time-shifted mass balancing eliminated negative removals obtained with other approaches. In this study the levels of 19 drugs of abuse were estimated throughout a wastewater treatment plant using polar organic chemical integrative samplers (POCIS), 24 h composite samples and grab samples. Overall removal efficiencies and removals in between each treatment unit were calculated using load data for each sampling technique as well as removals that take into account the hydraulic residence time distribution of the treatment plant (time-shifted mass balancing approach). Amphetamine-type stimulants, cocaine and its major metabolite, benzoylecgonine and opioid levels determined with 24 h composite samples were generally comparable to those obtained with POCIS and grab samples. Negative mass balances resulting from the estimation of overall removal efficiencies by POCIS, day-to-day mass balancing of 24 h composite and grab sample data did not occur when the hydraulic retention time (HRT) distributions of the plant were taken into account for calculation. Among the compounds investigated, cocaine exhibited the highest overall removal (90%) while codeine had the lowest with 13%, respectively. Sampling between the treatment units revealed that highest removal occurs during biological treatment as compared to primary or secondary clarification. Methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), fentanyl, dihydrocodeine and heroin were not detected in wastewater at any of the sampling locations at the treatment plant regardless of the sampling technique. The study demonstrates the benefits of applying the time-shifted mass balancing approach to the calculation of removals of drugs of abuse during wastewater treatment. a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o

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“…[23,24] A recent study by Salgado et al highlighted inefficient removal of DCF by WWTPs. [25] The prevalence of DCF in the environment has resulted in increased interest to combat its further accumulation in the environment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Photolysis and TiO2-catalysed degradation of diclofenac in surface and drinking water using circulating batch photoreactors

Kanakaraju¹,

Cherie²,

Motti³

et al. 2014

Environ. Chem.

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Environmental context. Diclofenac, a common non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, is not completely removed from surface and drinking water by conventional treatment methods. Consequently, this drug is present in the aquatic environment and has been subsequently linked to toxic effects on organisms. We show that photolysis and TiO 2 -catalysed degradation in circulating batch reactors efficiently results in diclofenac removal under a variety of conditions. These photochemical methods thus may lead to more effective water treatment processes.Abstract. The occurrence of diclofenac (DCF) as an emerging pollutant in surface waters and drinking water has been attributed to elevated global consumption and the inability of sewage treatment plants to remove DCF. In this study, DCF spiked drinking water and river water was subjected to photolysis and TiO 2 photocatalytic treatments in a circulating laboratory-scale (immersion-well) and a demonstration-scale loop reactor (Laboclean). The operational parameters for the immersion-well reactor were optimised as follows: TiO 2 P25 loading, 0.1 g L À1 ; natural pH, 6.2; initial concentration, 30 mg L À1 ; water type, distilled water. Complete DCF removal was realised within 15 min under the optimised conditions using the immersion-well reactor. Sunlight-mediated photochemical degradation required a prolonged exposure period of up to 360 min for complete DCF removal. DCF in distilled and drinking water was efficiently degraded in the larger Laboclean reactor. Differences were, however, observed based on their pseudo-first-order rate constants, which implies that the water matrix has an effect on the degradation rate. Six major photoproducts, 2-(8-chloro-9H-carbazol-1-yl)acetic acid, 2-(8-hydroxy-9H-carbazol-1-yl)acetic acid, 2,6-dichloro-N-o-tolylbenzenamine, 2-(phenylamino)benzaldehyde, 1-chloromethyl-9H-carbazole and 1-methyl-9H-carbazole, generated from TiO 2 photocatalysis of DCF were identified by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LCMS) and Fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance-mass spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS). This work has shown that photocatalytic degradation kinetics of DCF are dependent on both the geometry of the photoreactor and the nature of the water matrices.

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Assessing the removal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in a full-scale activated sludge plant

Abstract: The main removal mechanism of PhACs and musks studied in the WWTP was most often biological (45%), followed by adsorption (33%) and by UV radiation (22%). In the majority of the cases, the WWTP achieved>75% removal of the most detected PhACs and musks, with the exception of diclofenac.

Cited by 149 publications

References 38 publications

Fate and Removal of Pharmaceuticals and Illegal Drugs Present in Drinking Water and Wastewater

Fate and Removal of Pharmaceuticals and Illegal Drugs Present in Drinking Water and Wastewater

Impact of approach used to determine removal levels of drugs of abuse during wastewater treatment

Photolysis and TiO2-catalysed degradation of diclofenac in surface and drinking water using circulating batch photoreactors

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