Impact of sludge stabilization processes and sludge origin (urban or hospital) on the mobility of pharmaceutical compounds following sludge landspreading in laboratory soil-column experiments

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the effect of sludge stabilization treatments (liming and anaerobic digestion) on the mobility of different pharmaceutical compounds in soil amended by landspreading of treated sludge from different sources (urban and hospital). The sorption and desorption potential of the following pharmaceutical compounds: carbamazepine (CBZ), ciprofloxacin (CIP), sulfamethoxazole (SMX), salicylic acid (SAL), ibuprofen (IBU), paracetamol (PAR), diclofenac (DIC), ketoprofen (KTP), econazole (ECZ), atenolol (ATN), and their solid-liquid distribution during sludge treatment (from thickening to stabilization) were investigated in the course of batch testing. The different sludge samples were then landspread at laboratory scale and leached with an artificial rain simulating 1 year of precipitation adapted to the surface area of the soil column used. The quality of the resulting leachate was investigated. Results showed that ibuprofen had the highest desorption potential for limed and digested urban and hospital sludge. Ibuprofen, salicylic acid, diclofenac, and paracetamol were the only compounds found in amended soil leachates. Moreover, the leaching potential of these compounds and therefore the risk of groundwater contamination depend mainly on the origin of the sludge because ibuprofen and diclofenac were present in the leachates of soils amended with urban sludge, whereas paracetamol and salicylic acid were found only in the leachates of soils amended with hospital sludge. Although carbamazepine, ciprofloxacin, sulfamethoxazole, ketoprofen, econazole, and atenolol were detected in some sludge, they were not present in any leachate. This reflects either an accumulation and/or (bio)degradation of these compounds (CBZ, CIP, SMX, KTP, ECZ, and ATN ), thus resulting in very low mobility in soil. Ecotoxicological risk assessment, evaluated by calculating the risk quotients for each studied pharmaceutical compound, revealed no high risk due to the application on the soil of sludge stabilized by liming or anaerobic digestion.

Pharmaceuticals and Their Main Metabolites in Treated Sewage Sludge and Sludge-Amended Soil: Availability and Sorption Behaviour

“…SMX was the only PhC not detected. This result is consistent with other experiments at various scales, which have demonstrated its degradation by anaerobic digestion [ 9 ]. In spite of these results, the sorption behaviours of this compound and its main metabolite were evaluated.…”

“…Depending on these processes, sewage sludge can act both as a source or as a sink due to its adsorptive capacity [ 8 ]. The physicochemical properties of PhCs (log K ow , pK a ) and soil properties (organic matter, clay content and pH) can play a main role in the mobility of PhCs in soil and, consequently, in soil adsorption, leaching, plant up-take and/or interaction with terrestrial organisms [ 3 , 8 , 9 ].…”

Two-year survey of specific hospital wastewater treatment and its impact on pharmaceutical discharges

“…This hormone is usually quantified at concentrations lower than the ng/L range, which is not detectable with our analytical method (Backe 2015). Econazole is often mainly detected in the particulate phase (Lachassagne et al 2015), which was not analyzed in this work. Consequently, these two compounds are not included in the statistical analysis.…”

Characterization of organic compounds and drugs in sewage sludge aiming for agricultural recycling

“…Ciprofloxacin was detected in both collections; however, collection A showed the highest concentration when compared with the other two drugs evaluated. According to Clarke and Smith (2011) and Yang et al (2017), ciprofloxacin is commonly found in sewage and SS, and for Lachassagne et al (2015), ciprofloxacin was the antibiotic that had the highest concentration in SS and the authors also confirm the high affinity of FQ for SS. In the study by Arun et al (2020), high levels of FQ were found, with ciprofloxacin being the most abundant and present in all samplings carried out in the study.…”