From municipal sewage to drinking water: fate and removal of pharmaceutical residues in the aquatic environment in urban areas

Abstract

Recently, the occurrence and fate of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) in the aquatic environment was recognized as one of the emerging issues in environmental chemistry and as a matter of public concern. Residues of PhACs have been found as contaminants in sewage, surface, and ground- and drinking water samples. Since June 2000, a new long-term monitoring program of sewage, surface, ground- and drinking water has been carried out in Berlin, Germany. Samples, collected periodically from selected sites in the Berlin area, are investigated for residues of PhACs and related contaminants. The purpose of this monitoring is to investigate these compounds over a long time period to get more reliable data on their occurrence and fate in the different aquatic compartments. Moreover, the surface water investigations allow the calculation of season-dependent contaminant loads in the Berlin waters. In the course of the monitoring program, PhACs and some other polar compounds were detected at concentrations up to the microg/L-level in all compartments of the Berlin water cycle. The monitoring is accompanied and supported by several other investigations such as laboratory column experiments and studies on bank filtration and drinking water treatment using conventional or membrane filtration techniques.

Peer Reviewed: The Promise of Bank Filtration

“…However, Schwarzenbach and colleagues also identified a group of organic chemicals (chloroform, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, trichloroethylene, and tetrachloroethylene) that were resistant to biological transformation and thus ineffectively removed by riverbank filtration. Indeed, some compounds are less affected by natural filtration, such as certain pesticides (24,29,31), pharmaceuticals (2,30,32), and halogenated organic compounds (23,28).…”

Chronic toxicity of the antiepileptic carbamazepine on the clam Ruditapes philippinarum

“…Pharmaceuticals are used throughout the world being not only applied in human medicine but also in livestock breeding and aquaculture (Heberer et al, 2002;Boxall et al, 2004). Many of the pharmaceutical drugs applied in human/animal medicine are not completely metabolized by the organism, being excreted as a mixture of the unchanged compound, metabolites (active or inactive) or conjugates (mostly glucuronides and sulfates) (Daughton and Ternes, 1999;Heberer et al, 2002).…”

“…Many of the pharmaceutical drugs applied in human/animal medicine are not completely metabolized by the organism, being excreted as a mixture of the unchanged compound, metabolites (active or inactive) or conjugates (mostly glucuronides and sulfates) (Daughton and Ternes, 1999;Heberer et al, 2002). Once excreted, these drugs reach the environment directly or via Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs), where the majority end up passing unaltered through the conventional removal treatments applied (Monteiro and Boxall, 2010).…”

Determination of Ketoprofen and Diclofenac Ultrasonic Removal from Aqueous Solutions

“…The degree of removal of diclofenac in the treatment process varies considerably between individual wastewater treatment plants, depending on the used method and the treatment conditions such as season and temperature [4]. Major differences are present also in the results of research on methods of disposal, the degree of elimination of diclofenac ranging from 17 to 75% [5,6]. Ketoprofen is susceptible to photodegradation and other methods of treatment, nevertheless several studies indicate that the degree of ketoprofen removal is also highly volatile.…”

“…Widespread use of these drugs can lead to the penetration of their residues into wastewater as well as the natural environment [5]. Numerous studies have confirmed NSAIDs presence in effluents from sewage treatment plant [6].…”