PPCPs in Jiulong River estuary (China): Spatiotemporal distributions, fate, and their use as chemical markers of wastewater

Abstract

The occurrence and fate of 50 pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) were investigated in the surface water of Jiulong River estuary in the southeast of China in spring, wet season, summer, autumn and winter. Results demonstrated a wide distribution of PPCPs in Jiulong River estuary, where 34 PPCPs were detected at least once and 5 PPCPs were detected in all the samples, including caffeine, diclofenac, metoprolol, methyl paraben, and propyl paraben. Spatial and seasonal variations were observed. Special emphasis was placed on the PPCP fate in the estuary. Most PPCPs showed a non-conservative behavior in the estuary, while the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and bisphenol A showed a pseudo-conservative behavior. The non-conservative and pseudo-conservative behavior was attributed to the combination of the seawater dilution, the introduction of PPCPs via the sewage water, and the physical, chemical, or biological removal processes. Furthermore, PPCP concentrations showed drastic variations in the turbidity maximum zones. To our best knowledge, this is the first work to indicate the pseudo-conservative behavior of PPCPs in the estuary, and to show the drastic variations of PPCPs in the turbidity maximum zone. In addition, the ratio of labile to conservative PPCPs was calculated to track the source of untreated sewage contamination. Results showed a significantly higher ratio compared to the average value in WWTP effluents, indicating the ubiquitous discharge of untreated domestic wastewater in Jiulong River estuary. In addition, the high ratio of bisphenol A to conservative PPCPs implied the potential input of untreated industrial wastewater in Jiulong River estuary.

Fate and mass balance of bisphenol analogues in wastewater treatment plants in Xiamen City, China

“…To be noticed, although the treatment processes are different among the seven WWTPs, the consistent high removal efficiencies of BPA, BPF, and BPS, together with the consistent low removal efficiencies of BPAF and BPE over 7 days indicate that BPs can be applied as sewage markers to designate the direct discharge of untreated wastewater into the surface water (Lv et al 2014, Nakada et al 2008, Sun et al 2016b. As discussed in Section 3.2, due to the strong evidence on BPA's industrial origin, BPA can be used as the industrial sewage marker.…”

Suitability of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) and artificial sweeteners (ASs) as wastewater indicators in the Pearl River Delta, South China

“…In recent years, pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) and artificial sweeteners (ASs) have been proposed as more definitive wastewater indicators due to their anthropogenic origin and ubiquity in wastewater, surface water and even groundwater (Benotti and Brownawell 2007, Buerge et al 2003, Clara et al 2004, Daneshvar et al 2012, Glassmeyer et al 2005, Nakada et al 2008, Sun et al 2016b, Tran et al 2014a, Tran et al 2014b, Young et al 2008.…”

“…Moreover, it is useful to combine conservative indicators which are recalcitrant in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) with liable indicators which are susceptible to biodegradation in WWTPs in identifying contamination source of treated or untreated wastewater (e.g. sewer leakages, combined sewer overflow, and illegal discharges) (Kasprzyk-Hordern et al 2009a, Lv et al 2014, Sun et al 2016b.…”

Determination of parabens in wastewater and sludge in a municipal wastewater treatment plant using microwaveassisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

“…Parabens can be detected in wastewater, water, sediment, soil, human urine, blood, and adipose tissue (2,(4)(5)(6)(7)(8). Studies conducted in Canada (9), the United Kingdom (10), France (11), and China (12), reported the occurrence of parabens in municipal wastewater. There are studies suggesting that in the conventional WWTPs, these chemicals are not completely removed from the water cycle (8,(13)(14)(15) and this issue remains a challenging problem due to its complex matrices.…”