The Challenge of Micropollutants in Aquatic Systems

Schwarzenbach, René P.; Escher, Beate I.; Fenner, Kathrin; Hofstetter, Thomas B.; Johnson, C. Annette; Gunten, Urs von; Wehrli, Bernhard

doi:10.1126/science.1127291

Cited by 3,119 publications

(1,641 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…transdermal), completion of course to reduce disposal  marketing -guidance on disposal, broader range of package size, advertising  publication of environmental risk assessment data  dispensing -expiry date, pharmacy inventories, database of both prescription and non-prescription drugs, reduction in availability of non-prescription drugs  restrictive prescription, and improvement in hygiene for farm animals  disposal/recycling -effective guidance, reverse distribution (take back programmes), recovery from wastewater  reduction of input by broken sewage/piping  separation of waste and rainwater to minimise necessary treatment  alternative products -improved nutrition, probiotic products  demonstration of economic benefits of usage reduction by health insurers A major challenge in wastewater and drinking treatment is to improve existing processes and to design new ones to remove a large number of very different micropollutants in a range of matrices (Schwarzenbach et al, 2006). Future water treatments will require the development of more compact and efficient technologies.…”

Section: Reducing Inputsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review of risk from potential emerging contaminants in UK groundwater

Stuart

Lapworth

Crane

et al. 2012

Science of The Total Environment

672

284

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This paper provides a review of the types of emerging organic groundwater contaminants (EGCs) which are beginning to be found in the UK. EGCs are compounds being found in groundwater that were previously not detectable or known to be significant and can come from agricultural, urban and rural point sources. EGCs include nanomaterials, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, industrial compounds, personal care products, fragrances, water treatment by-products, flame retardants and surfactants, as well as caffeine and nicotine. Many are relatively small polar molecules which may not be effectively removed by drinking water treatment. Data from the UK Environment Agency's groundwater screening programme for organic pollutants found within the 30 most frequently detected compounds a number of EGCs such as pesticide metabolites, caffeine and DEET. Specific determinands frequently detected include pesticides metabolites, pharmaceuticals including carbamazepine and triclosan, nicotine, food additives and alkyl phosphates. This paper discusses the routes by which these compounds enter groundwater, their toxicity and potential risks to drinking water and the environment. It identifies challenges that need to be met to minimise risk to drinking water and ecosystems.

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Section: Reducing Inputsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review of risk from potential emerging contaminants in UK groundwater

Stuart

Lapworth

Crane

et al. 2012

Science of The Total Environment

672

284

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“…Although most of these pharmaceuticals are present at low concentrations, many of them raise environmental and health concerns, and have become a key environmental problem (Schwarzenbach et al 2006). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Occurrence and in-stream attenuation of wastewater-derived pharmaceuticals in Iberian rivers

Acuña

Schiller

García-Galán

et al. 2015

Science of The Total Environment

110

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Amultitude of pharmaceuticals enter surface waters via discharges of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), and many raise environmental and health concerns. Chemical fate models predict their concentrations using estimates of mass loading, dilution and in-stream attenuation. However, current comprehension of the attenuation rates remains a limiting factor for predictive models.We assessed in-stream attenuation of 75 pharmaceuticals in 4 river segments, aiming to characterize in-stream attenuation variability among different pharmaceutical compounds, as well as among river segments differing in environmental conditions. Our study revealed that in-streamattenuation was highly variable among pharmaceuticals and river segments and that none of the considered pharmaceutical physicochemical and molecular properties proved to be relevant in determining the mean attenuation rates. Instead, the octanol–water partition coefficient (Kow) influenced the variability of rates among river segments, likely due to its effect on sorption to sediments and suspended particles, and therefore influencing the balance between the different attenuation mechanisms (biotransformation, photolysis, sorption, and volatilization). The magnitude of themeasured attenuation rates urges scientists to consider themas important as dilutionwhen aiming to predict concentrations in freshwater ecosystemsThis research was supported by aMarie Curie European Reintegration Grant (PERG07-GA-2010-259219) and by a Marie Curie Career Integration Grant (PCIG9-GA-2011-293535) within the 7th European Community Framework Programme, aswell as by the SpanishMinistry of Economy and Competitiveness through the projects SCARCE (Consolider-Ingenio 2010 CSD2009-00065) and ENDERUS (CTM-2009-13018), and the postdoctoral grants “Juan de la Cierva” (jci-2009-05604 and jci-2010- 06397), and by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER). This work was partly supported by the Generalitat de Catalunya (Consolidated Research Group: Water and Soil Quality Unit 2009-SGR-965

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“…1 Very often, these chemicals, especially hydrophobic organic chemicals (HOCs), find ways to enter aquatic environments and eventually sediments. Thus sediments have become a major reservoir of HOCs.…”

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel Passive Sampling Device for Measuring Sediment–Water Diffusion Fluxes of Hydrophobic Organic Chemicals

Liu

Bao

Zhang

et al. 2013

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Molecular diffusion across the sediment−water interface, as one of the key geochemical processes, dictates whether a sediment is a source or sink of chemicals, providing useful data in designing remedial actions. Despite ample previous efforts in quantifying sediment−water diffusion fluxes, the resulting methods are largely unsatisfactory. Herein, we introduce a novel passive sampling device capable of measuring vertical profiles of chemical concentrations near the sediment−water interface, from which diffusion fluxes can be calculated based on a model that we developed. In laboratory testing, diffusion fluxes (0.032−310 ng m −2 d −1 ) of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and its metabolites obtained from the present sampling device were consistent with those (0.38− 610 ng m −2 d −1 ) determined by using a conventional active sampling method, solid-phase extraction/liquid−liquid extraction. Field deployment of the sampling device yielded individual diffusion fluxes of p,p′-DDD, p,p′-DDE, p,p′-DDMU, o,p′-DDMU, p,p′-DDNU, and p,p′-DBP in the range of 5.9−150 ng m −2 d −1 , which were comparable to those (5.5−85 ng m −2 d −1 ) obtained with a benthic chamber. Moreover, diffusion fluxes of p,p′-DDT and o,p′-DDT obtained with the sampling device were negative; i.e., the sediment is acting as a sink for these chemicals, while that could not be found using the benthic chamber. Thus, the passive sampling device can provide better information about the movement of chemicals through the sediment and overlying water for the choice of remedial strategies.

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The Challenge of Micropollutants in Aquatic Systems

Cited by 3,119 publications

References 54 publications

Review of risk from potential emerging contaminants in UK groundwater

Review of risk from potential emerging contaminants in UK groundwater

Occurrence and in-stream attenuation of wastewater-derived pharmaceuticals in Iberian rivers

Novel Passive Sampling Device for Measuring Sediment–Water Diffusion Fluxes of Hydrophobic Organic Chemicals

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