Quantification of pharmaceutical residues in wastewater impacted surface waters and sewage sludge from Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

Information on the occurrence of pharmaceuticals in the environment of Nigeria is limited, only a single publication previously on pharmaceutical occurrence in the environment of Nigeria, which measured general estrogen levels in Enugu, South-East Nigeria. In order to establish a first overview, surface water samples from six locations as well as ten sewage sludge samples from waste water treatment plants were analysed for a range of different pharmaceuticals, including antibiotics, estrogens, and lipid-lowering drugs. The results of this monitoring campaign were evaluated in comparison to published measured environmental concentrations in Africa and worldwide. In surface water samples, 12 of 37 pharmaceutical substances were detected at concentrations ranging from Limits of Detection (LOD) up to 8.84 µg/l. Four of these pharmaceuticals were found at concentrations exceeding ecotoxicological predicted no-effect concentrations (PNEC). In industrial, domestic, and hospital sewage sludge, nine different pharmaceutical substances were detected with the NSAID diclofenac present in all samples at concentrations of up to 1100 µg/kg dry weight, exceeding the highest measured concentration of 560 µg/ kg reported in sludge samples worldwide. This study proves the presence of several pharmaceuticals at relevant concentrations in the environmental matrices studied. Further, more comprehensive monitoring campaigns, especially in locations with high population density and low dilution of treated or untreated waste water in receiving streams are recommended.

Emerging Contaminants in Streams of Doce River Watershed, Minas Gerais, Brazil

“…Among macrolides, ERY was observed at high concentrations in our study, regardless of time and sites of collection (Table 3; Figure 2). ERY concentrations up to 20,000 ng L −1 and 1,000 ng L −1 were observed in surface waters in South Africa (Matongo et al, 2015) and Nigeria (Oluwatosin et al, 2016), respectively. AZI concentrations ranged up to 650 ng L −1 in Brazilian rivers (Beatriz et al, 2020) and up to 30 ng L −1 in South African rivers (Módenes et al, 2017), while it was not detected in Nigerian rivers (Oluwatosin et al, 2016).…”

“…In South Africa, SMX was detected at concentrations of 7,300 (Matongo et al, 2015) and 14,000 ng L −1 in surface waters (Ngumba et al, 2016). In Kenya, concentrations of up to 40,000 ng L −1 have been observed in river waters (K'oreje et al, 2016) while SDZ has been detected in concentrations of up to 40 ng L −1 in rivers from Nigeria (Oluwatosin et al, 2016). In China, up to 764.6 ng SMX l −1 has been detected in rivers (Chen and Zhou, 2014).…”

Removal of Pharmaceutical Residues from Water and Wastewater Using Dielectric Barrier Discharge Methods—A Review

“…The results demonstrated that malaria treatment medication and paracetamol were detected in irrigation water derive from wastewater. Olarinmoye et al [67] investigated the occurrence of antibiotics, oestrogens and lipid-lowering residues in surface water sewage from a wastewater treatment plant in Lagos, Nigeria; 37 pharmaceutical residues in the concentration range of 8.84 to 560 µg/L were observed. it was recommended that extended environmental monitoring of PhCs in Nigerian regions with high population densities need to be implemented.…”

Presencia de productos farmacéuticos en el agua y su impacto en el ambiente

“…Así mismo en las muestras de aguas subterráneas y superficiales recogidas de la zona industrial farmacéutica de Sango Ota, en el estado de Ogún en Nigeria, revelaron la presencia de ciprofloxacina, paracetamol, cloroquina y diclofenaco a concentraciones que oscilan entre 1 y 17g/L 25 . En una campaña en Lagos, Nigeria, en lodos de aguas residuales y aguas superficiales se detectó diclofenaco en concentraciones de hasta 1100 µg/kg de peso seco e ibuprofeno en concentraciones de hasta 8,8 g/L 26 .…”