Monitoring Priority of Residual Pharmaceuticals in Water Sources and Drinking Water in Japan

Abstract

Monitoring priority of a wide variety of pharmaceuticals was determined in regard to the probability of occurrence in water sources and drinking water in Japan. One hundred and twenty six pharmaceuticals currently in Japanese market, i.e. prescription drugs, over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, veterinary drugs and antibiotics for aquaculture were chosen by literature review and database search. Six evaluation criteria were selected for the determination of monitoring priority of the pharmaceuticals based on occurrence in water sources and drinking water, as well as possible impacts on human health, i.e. annual production, human urinary excretion, octanol-water partition coefficient (log Kow), biodegradation, removal capability by conventional water treatments, and minimum daily therapeutic dose (or acceptable daily intake (ADI) if available). Methodology of the prioritization adopted in this study were found to be appropriate because all of the six pharmaceuticals (i.e., amantadine, carbamazepine, epinastine, ibuprofen, iopamidol and oseltamivir acid) detected in finished drinking water in Japan appeared among the top 25 on the monitoring priority list. Further field investigations on the high-priority pharmaceuticals should be considered to elucidate the overall picture of residual pharmaceuticals in water environment and drinking water, and their potential implications for human health.

Occurrence of selected pharmaceuticals at drinking water purification plants in Japan and implications for human health

“…Removal efficiencies of carbamazepine and ketoprofen during primary and secondary treatments in sewage treatment plants were not always efficient, less than 45% on average with large variability from 0% to 80% (Nakada et al, 2006). Moderate photodegradation of acetaminophen was observed by direct sunlight photolysis experiments using river water (i.e., half-life < 35e56hr), however, both carbamazepine and ibuprofen were stable against sunlight (Yamamoto et al, 2009).These factors might also affect the absence of diclofenac in the source water samples in spite of its large domestic production (156 ton/year) e it has only 1% human urinary excretion ratio (Simazaki et al, 2014), is moderately removed (69% in average) in the course of sewage treatment process (Ternes, 1998), and is rapidly photodegraded in surface waters (Buser et al, 1998b).…”

“…Other factors that could account for their persistence in the source water would be their fates in the human/animal body (i.e., excretion ratio), at wastewater treatment facilities (e.g., activated sludge and chlorine disinfection), and in the water environment (e.g., adsorption to river bottom sediment and photodegradation). For example, human urinary excretion ratios of these pharmaceuticals dominant in water sources were typically higher than 70%, e.g., iopamidol (100%), oseltamivir (80%) and carbamazepine (72%), except for several antiinflammatory drugs (Simazaki et al, 2014). Removal efficiencies of carbamazepine and ketoprofen during primary and secondary treatments in sewage treatment plants were not always efficient, less than 45% on average with large variability from 0% to 80% (Nakada et al, 2006).…”

“…The methodology used for selection of these pharmaceuticals and metabolites was described elsewhere (Simazaki et al, 2014). Briefly, 126 pharmaceuticals recently available on the Japanese market were chosen based on preliminary screening by comprehensive literature review and database search.…”

Effect of pH and molar ratio of pollutant to oxidant on a photochemical advanced oxidation process using hypochlorite

“…Emerging contaminants, such as pharmaceuticals and personal care products, are currently being discharged into the natural environment [1,2]. Some of these chemicals are known to resist biodegradation [3].…”

Avaliação dos efeitos deletérios de fármacos psicotrópicos sobre o desenvolvimento dos estágios embrio-larvais de zebrafish

“…Nas últimas décadas os produtos farmacêuticos e cosméticos vem ganhando atenção no cenário ambiental pelos diversos relatos da ocorrência desses em águas superficiais, estações de esgoto e até mesmo em água potável, podendo assim considerá-los contaminantes emergentes de água (COMERO et al, 2013;NARBAITZ et al, 2013;SIMAZAKI et al, 2014;ZORITA et al, 2009;SILVEIRA et al, 2013).…”