Occurrence and environmental implications of pharmaceuticals in Chinese municipal sewage sludge

Abstract

h i g h l i g h t sPharmaceutical residuals were analyzed for sludge samples from 45 sewage treatment plants in China. Fluoroquinolone and tetracycline were the dominant antibiotics. Other pharmaceuticals such as ketoprofen and ibuprofen also in significant presence. Poor agreement found between the detected and predicted concentrations. t r a c tThe presence of pharmaceuticals in aquatic environment has become a topic of concern because of their potential adverse effects on human health and wildlife species. A total of 45 dewatered sewage sludge samples were collected throughout China and analyzed for 30 commonly consumed pharmaceutical residues. Ofloxacin was found to be the dominant contaminant with concentrations up to 24 760 lg kg ). The concentration of pharmaceutical residues varied greatly depending on the operation conditions of wastewater treatment plants and sampling locations. Poor agreement was found between the predicted (calculation based on the annual consumption and coefficient of sludge water partition) and detected concentrations of the pharmaceuticals indicating that the occurrence of pharmaceutical residues was affected by various factors such as loading rates, sewage properties and the chemical properties such as the contribution from polar groups. National wide fate and ecotoxicity study is required for the development of control strategies.

Pharmaceutical load in sewage sludge and biochar produced by hydrothermal carbonization

“…Diclofenac results corroborates a previous German study (Ternes et al, 2005), while other countries reported lower amounts (Martin et al, 2012;Jelic et al, 2011;Chen et al, 2013;Nieto et al, 2010;Okuda et al, 2009;Peysson and Vulliet, 2013;Radjenovic et al, 2009;Rodriguez-Rodriguez et al, 2011). The ibuprofen level corresponds to several Spanish studies (Nieto et al, 2010;Radjenovic et al, 2009;Rodriguez-Rodriguez et al, 2011), while another study reported a 20-fold higher concentration (Martin et al, 2012) in primary sludge.…”

“…Carbamazepine concentration ranged between b LOQ and 410 μg/kg DM in this study. Martin et al (2012) reported similar loads, other studies reported lower values (Jelic et al, 2011;Chen et al, 2013;Nieto et al, 2010;Okuda et al, 2009;Peysson and Vulliet, 2013;Radjenovic et al, 2009;Rodriguez-Rodriguez et al, 2011). Sulfamethoxazole remained below the LOQ of 15 μg/kg DM in this study, while another German study reported up to 113 μg/kg DM (Gobel et al, 2005).…”

“…Sulfamethoxazole remained below the LOQ of 15 μg/kg DM in this study, while another German study reported up to 113 μg/kg DM (Gobel et al, 2005). Bezafibrate was detected in the same concentration range as previously described (Chen et al, 2013;Nieto et al, 2010;Okuda et al, 2009;Rodriguez-Rodriguez et al, 2011). The reported loads for fenofibric acid and metoprolol remained below the amounts detected in this study (Jelic et al, 2011;Chen et al, 2013;Nieto et al, 2010;Okuda et al, 2009;Rodriguez-Rodriguez et al, 2011).…”

Effect of ultrasonic and ozone pre-treatments on pharmaceutical waste activated sludge’s solubilisation, reduction, anaerobic biodegradability and acute biological toxicity

“…The activated sludge process produces a large amount of sludge that causes a serious problem for pollution control. Pharmaceutical sludge, considered as a major, complex, and toxic industrial waste, contains relatively high levels of suspended solids, soluble organics, heavy metals, and recalcitrant antibiotics (Kaya et al, 2013), such as berberine hydrochloric (McClellan and Halden, 2010) and benzylpenicillin (Chen et al, 2013). The treatment and disposal fees for this type of sludge are very high (Yin et al, 2015) and can account for 25-65% of the total plant operation costs (Liu, 2003).…”

Determination of pharmaceuticals and pesticides in river sediments and corresponding surface and ground water in the Danube River and tributaries in Serbia

“…The studies on their presence in river sediments and soil (Vazguez-Roig et al 2010;Köck-Schulmeyer et al 2013), as well as sewage sludge (Radjenović et al 2009;Chen et al 2013) are less frequent, primarily due to the matrix complexity. The results have shown that these compounds were even found in the environment of the countries with strict law regulations on their residues and extensive waste water treatment.…”