Occurrence and fate of micropollutants in the Vidy Bay of Lake Geneva, Switzerland. Part II: Micropollutant removal between wastewater and raw drinking water

Abstract

The occurrence and removal of 58 pharmaceuticals, endocrine disruptors, corrosion inhibitors, biocides, and pesticides, were assessed in the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) of the city of Lausanne, Switzerland, as well as in the effluent-receiving water body, the Vidy Bay of Lake Geneva. An analytical screening method to simultaneously measure all of the 58 micropollutants was developed based on ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled to a tandem mass spectrometer (UPLC-MS/MS). The selection of pharmaceuticals was primarily based on a prioritization study, which designated them as environmentally relevant for the Lake Geneva region. Except for the endocrine disruptor 17alpha-ethinylestradiol, all substances were detected in 24-h composite samples of wastewater entering the WWTP or in the treated effluent. Of these compounds, 40% were also detected in raw drinking water, pumped from the lake 3 km downstream of the WWTP. The contributions of dilution and degradation to micropollutant elimination between the WWTP outlet and the raw drinking water intake were established in different model scenarios using hypothetical residence times of the wastewater in Vidy Bay of 1, 4, or 90 d. Concentration decrease due to processes other than dilution was observed for diclofenac, beta-blockers, several antibiotics, corrosion inhibitors, and pesticides. Measured environmental concentrations (MECs) of pharmaceuticals were compared to the predicted environmental concentrations (PECs) determined in the prioritization study and agreed within one order of magnitude, but MECs were typically greater than the corresponding PECs. Predicted no-effect concentrations of the analgesic paracetamol, and the two antibiotics ciprofloxacin and sulfamethoxazole, were exceeded in raw drinking water samples and therefore present a potential risk to the ecosystem.

Occurrence and fate of micropollutants in the Vidy Bay of Lake Geneva, Switzerland. Part I: Priority list for environmental risk assessment of pharmaceuticals

“…The elimination rates in a WWTP strongly depend on the WWTP characteristics such as the hydraulic retention time, treatment train composition, sludge age, etc. The removal efficiencies for the compounds of interest in the Vidy WWTP were determined for the first time in the second part of the present study [13]. We therefore used literature data and technical guidance document tables to estimate the elimination rates for the selected pharmaceuticals.…”

Recalcitrant pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment: a comparative screening study of their occurrence, formation of phototransformation products and their in vitro toxicity

“…1). [41] 11 surface waters, Sweden [42] cimetidine 10 9.1 217 surface waters, Great Britain [43] 1338 surface waters, South Korea [44] 580 surface waters, USA [45] fluconazole 2 5.0 111 surface waters, South Korea [46] 140 STP effluents, Sweden [47] 9 surface waters, Switzerland [48] 369 STP effluents, China [40] hydrochlorothiazide 0.5 153.8 256 surface waters, Italy [49,50] 1949 STP effluents, Spain [24] lisinopril 0.4 22.5 bd surface waters, Spain [24] phenytoin 7.5 28.2 100 STP effluents, Germany [51] 19 drinking waters, USA [52,53] primidone 7.5 54.8 690 ground waters, Germany [1] 89 surface waters, Germany [54] 51 drinking waters, Switzerland [55] 28 surface waters, USA [56] ranitidine 4.5 301.6 39 surface waters, Italy [49,50,57] 70 surface waters, Great Britain [43] 100 surface waters, Sweden [58] 823 STP effluents, China [40] 10 surface waters, USA [45] sotalol 2.4 27.2 1000 surface waters, Germany [2] 100 ground waters, Germany [2] 86 surface waters, Finland [25] 619 surface waters, Taiwan [26] sulpiride 8 60.1 27 STP effluents, China [59] 100 STP influents, Japan [60] tramadol 2 379.6 87 ground waters, Germany [54] 5970 surface waters, Great Britain [43] 1840 surface waters, Sweden [58] valsartane 1.6 232.9 144 surface waters, Great Britain [43] Formation of phototransformation products (PTP) With respect to the HPLC-UV-MS analysis, deviations of all quality controls were within the limits o...…”

Modelling the photochemical fate of ibuprofen in surface waters

“…For instance, it has been the sixth most abundant pharmaceutical detected in the influent flow of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Italy . Although it is susceptible to biodegradation (Tiehm et al, 2011;de Graaf et al, 2011), IBP is only partially removed by WWTPs (Oulton et al, 2010;Morasch et al, 2010) and the treatment efficiency undergoes a considerable decrease during the winter months Santos et al, 2009), when the IBP environmental inputs tend to increase considerably (Daneshvar et al, 2010). The combination of widespread use and incomplete WWTP elimination results into an extensive occurrence of IBP in surface waters.…”