Pharmaceutical compounds in the wastewater process stream in Northwest Ohio.

In order to add to the current state of knowledge regarding occurrence and fate of Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products (PPCP's) in the environment, influent, effluent and biosolids from three wastewater treatment facilities in Northwest Ohio, USA, and a stream containing effluent discharge from a rural treatment facility were analyzed. The three WWTP facilities vary in size and in community served, but are all Class B facilities. One facility was sampled multiple times in order to assess temporal variability. Twenty compounds including several classes of antibiotics, acidic pharmaceuticals, and prescribed medications were analyzed using ultrasonication extraction, SPE cleanup and liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. The highest number of compounds and the greatest concentrations were found in the influent from the largest and most industrial WWTP facility. Short-term temporal variability was minimal at this facility. Many compounds, such as clarithromycin, salicylic acid and gemfibrizol were found at concentrations more than one order of magnitude higher than found in the effluent samples. Effluent waters contained elevated levels of carbamazepine, clindamycin and sulfamethoxazole. Differences in composition and concentration of effluent waters between facilities existed. Biosolid samples from two different facilities were very similar in PPCP composition, although concentrations varied. Ciprofloxacin was found in biosolids at concentrations (up to 46 mug/kg dry mass) lower than values reported elsewhere. Diclofenac survived the WWTP process and was found to persist in stream water incorporating effluent discharge. The low variability within one plant, as compared to the variability found among different wastewater treatment plants locally and in the literature is likely due to differences in population, PPCP usage, plant operations and/or local environment. These data are presented here for comparison with this emerging set of environmental compounds of concern.

[1]  Walter Giger,et al.  Trace determination of macrolide and sulfonamide antimicrobials, a human sulfonamide metabolite, and trimethoprim in wastewater using liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray tandem mass spectrometry. , 2004, Analytical chemistry.

[2]  Xiu-Sheng Miao,et al.  Occurrence of antimicrobials in the final effluents of wastewater treatment plants in Canada. , 2004, Environmental science & technology.

[3]  Joshua Edward. Clemons.  A comparison of water quality methods and data: GLOBE Program vs. United States Geological Survey , 2000 .

[4]  J. Belden,et al.  Effects of the antibiotic ciprofloxacin on stream microbial communities and detritivorous macroinvertebrates , 2006, Environmental toxicology and chemistry.

[5]  J. Pedersen,et al.  Human pharmaceuticals, hormones, and personal care product ingredients in runoff from agricultural fields irrigated with treated wastewater. , 2005, Journal of agricultural and food chemistry.

[6]  D. Calamari,et al.  Removal of pharmaceuticals in sewage treatment plants in Italy. , 2006, Environmental science & technology.

[7]  R. Kanda,et al.  Pharmaceutical and personal care products in sewage treatment works. , 2003, Journal of environmental monitoring : JEM.

[8]  C. A. Johnson,et al.  Solubility of antimony and other elements in samples taken from shooting ranges. , 2005, Journal of environmental quality.

[9]  B. Haggard,et al.  Pharmaceuticals and other organic chemicals in selected north-central and northwestern Arkansas streams. , 2006, Journal of environmental quality.

[10]  T. Tuhkanen,et al.  Occurrence of acidic pharmaceuticals in raw and treated sewages and in receiving waters. , 2005, Water research.

[11]  Matthew Hysell,et al.  Organic chemicals in sewage sludges. , 2006, The Science of the total environment.

[12]  Rattan Lal,et al.  Diurnal soil temperature fluctuations for different erosion classes of an oxisol at Mlingano, Tanzania , 1998 .

[13]  Estimating the Soil Heat Flux from Observations of Soil Temperature Near the Surface 1 , 1983 .

[14]  Mark D. Schwartz,et al.  Young students, satellites aid understanding of climate-biosphere link , 2000 .

[15]  T. Jones-Lepp.  Chemical markers of human waste contamination: analysis of urobilin and pharmaceuticals in source waters. , 2006, Journal of environmental monitoring : JEM.

[16]  W. Buchberger.  Novel analytical procedures for screening of drug residues in water, waste water, sediment and sludge. , 2007, Analytica chimica acta.

[17]  Nidal Abu-Hamdeh,et al.  Thermal Properties of Soils as affected by Density and Water Content , 2003 .

[18]  M. Benotti,et al.  Distributions of pharmaceuticals in an urban estuary during both dry- and wet-weather conditions. , 2007, Environmental science & technology.

[19]  T. Jones-Lepp,et al.  Pharmaceuticals and personal care products in biosolids/sewage sludge: the interface between analytical chemistry and regulation , 2007, Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry.

[20]  G. Foster,et al.  Tracking acidic pharmaceuticals, caffeine, and triclosan through the wastewater treatment process , 2005, Environmental toxicology and chemistry.

[21]  D. Barceló,et al.  Environmental risk assessment of pharmaceutical residues in wastewater effluents, surface waters and sediments. , 2006, Talanta.

[22]  Michael J Lydy,et al.  Toxicity of fluoroquinolone antibiotics to aquatic organisms , 2005, Environmental toxicology and chemistry.

[23]  E. Furlong,et al.  Presence and distribution of wastewater‐derived pharmaceuticals in soil irrigated with reclaimed water , 2006, Environmental toxicology and chemistry.

[24]  K. Thomasb,et al.  Investigating the environmental transport of human pharmaceuticals to streams in the United Kingdom , 2004 .

[25]  T. Ternes,et al.  Determination of acidic pharmaceuticals, antibiotics and ivermectin in river sediment using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. , 2003, Journal of chromatography. A.

[26]  Anna-Karin Johansson,et al.  Are pharmaceuticals potent environmental pollutants? Part I: environmental risk assessments of selected active pharmaceutical ingredients. , 2006, The Science of the total environment.

[27]  F. Sacher,et al.  Pharmaceuticals in groundwaters analytical methods and results of a monitoring program in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. , 2001, Journal of chromatography. A.

[28]  A. Balisky.  Root-zone soil temperature variation associated with microsite characteristics in high-elevation forest openings in the interior of British Columbia , 1995 .

[29]  Hing-Biu Lee,et al.  Determination of endocrine-disrupting phenols, acidic pharmaceuticals, and personal-care products in sewage by solid-phase extraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. , 2005, Journal of chromatography. A.

[30]  Christian G. Daughton,et al.  Pharmaceuticals and Care Products in the Environment: Scientific and Regulatory Issues , 2001 .

[31]  C. Gagnon,et al.  Determination of six anti-infectives in wastewater using tandem solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. , 2007, Journal of environmental monitoring : JEM.

[32]  Christa S. McArdell,et al.  Occurrence and fate of macrolide antibiotics in wastewater treatment plants and in the Glatt Valley watershed, Switzerland. , 2003, Environmental science & technology.

[33]  Satish C. Gupta,et al.  Sulfamethazine uptake by plants from manure-amended soil. , 2007, Journal of environmental quality.

[34]  J. Ongerth,et al.  Estimation of pharmaceutical residues in primary and secondary sewage sludge based on quantities of use and fugacity modelling. , 2002, Water science and technology : a journal of the International Association on Water Pollution Research.

[35]  T. Yamanaka,et al.  Dynamics of the evaporation zone in dry sandy soils , 1999 .

[36]  E. Furlong,et al.  Survey of organic wastewater contaminants in biosolids destined for land application. , 2006, Environmental science & technology.

[37]  D. Aga,et al.  Evaluating the vulnerability of surface waters to antibiotic contamination from varying wastewater treatment plant discharges. , 2006, Environmental pollution.

[38]  H. Nau,et al.  Antibiotics in dust originating from a pig-fattening farm: a new source of health hazard for farmers? , 2003, Environmental health perspectives.

[39]  Kurtis Sarafin,et al.  Occurrence and reductions of pharmaceuticals and personal care products and estrogens by municipal wastewater treatment plants in Ontario, Canada. , 2006, The Science of the total environment.

[40]  S. Richardson.  Water analysis: emerging contaminants and current issues. , 2009, Analytical chemistry.

[41]  W. Giger,et al.  Environmental exposure assessment of fluoroquinolone antibacterial agents from sewage to soil. , 2003, Environmental science & technology.

[42]  Thomas B. Williams.  Microclimatic Temperature Relationships over Different Surfaces , 1991 .

[43]  Xiu-Sheng Miao,et al.  Carbamazepine and its metabolites in wastewater and in biosolids in a municipal wastewater treatment plant. , 2005, Environmental science & technology.

[44]  M. I C H A E,et al.  Pharmaceuticals, Hormones, and Other Organic Wastewater Contaminants in U.S. Streams, 1999-2000: A National Reconnaissance , 2002 .

[45]  Dirk Löffler,et al.  Determination of pharmaceuticals, iodinated contrast media and musk fragrances in sludge by LC/tandem MS and GC/MS. , 2005, Journal of chromatography. A.

[46]  K. Carlson,et al.  Simultaneous extraction and analysis of 11 tetracycline and sulfonamide antibiotics in influent and effluent domestic wastewater by solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. , 2005, Journal of chromatography. A.

[47]  Variability of Soil Temperature: A Spatial and Temporal Analysis , 1991 .

[48]  A. Boxall,et al.  Uptake of veterinary medicines from soils into plants. , 2006, Journal of agricultural and food chemistry.

[49]  W. Giger,et al.  Determination of fluoroquinolone antibacterial agents in sewage sludge and sludge-treated soil using accelerated solvent extraction followed by solid-phase extraction. , 2002, Analytical chemistry.

[50]  S. Meriç,et al.  Occurrence patterns of pharmaceuticals in water and wastewater environments , 2007, Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry.

[51]  T. Tuhkanen,et al.  Seasonal variation in the occurrence of pharmaceuticals in effluents from a sewage treatment plant and in the recipient water. , 2005, Environmental science & technology.

[52]  Roger G. Barry,et al.  An Amplified Signal of Climatic Change in Soil Temperatures during the Last Century at Irkutsk, Russia , 2001 .

[53]  D. Mawhinney,et al.  Occurrence of antibiotics in hospital, residential, and dairy effluent, municipal wastewater, and the Rio Grande in New Mexico. , 2006, The Science of the total environment.

[54]  T. Heberer,et al.  Occurrence of Pharmaceutical Residues in Sewage, River, Ground, and Drinking Water in Greece and Berlin (Germany) , 2001 .

[55]  H. Takada,et al.  Pharmaceutical chemicals and endocrine disrupters in municipal wastewater in Tokyo and their removal during activated sludge treatment. , 2006, Water research.

[56]  Christa S. McArdell,et al.  Extraction and determination of sulfonamides, macrolides, and trimethoprim in sewage sludge. , 2005, Journal of chromatography. A.

[57]  M. Morecroft,et al.  Air and soil microclimates of deciduous woodland compared to an open site , 1998 .

[58]  M. Servos,et al.  Occurrence of neutral and acidic drugs in the effluents of Canadian sewage treatment plants , 2003, Environmental toxicology and chemistry.

[59]  Alejandro J. Ramirez,et al.  Analysis of pharmaceuticals in fish using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. , 2007, Analytical chemistry.

[60]  P. Jjemba.  The potential impact of veterinary and human therapeutic agents in manure and biosolids on plants grown on arable land: a review , 2002 .

[61]  C. Metcalfe,et al.  Analysis of paroxetine, fluoxetine and norfluoxetine in fish tissues using pressurized liquid extraction, mixed mode solid phase extraction cleanup and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. , 2007, Journal of chromatography. A.

[62]  M. Haight,et al.  Expert Stakeholders’ Views on the Management of Human Pharmaceuticals in the Environment , 2006, Environmental management.

[63]  K. Thomas,et al.  Determination of selected human pharmaceutical compounds in effluent and surface water samples by high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry. , 2003, Journal of chromatography. A.

[64]  F. Mims,et al.  Development of an inexpensive handheld LED‐based Sun photometer for the GLOBE program , 2001 .

[65]  Xiu-Sheng Miao,et al.  Analysis of acidic drugs in the effluents of sewage treatment plants using liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. , 2002, Journal of chromatography. A.

[66]  Mats Tysklind,et al.  Screening of human antibiotic substances and determination of weekly mass flows in five sewage treatment plants in Sweden. , 2005, Environmental science & technology.

[67]  John Struger,et al.  Distribution of acidic and neutral drugs in surface waters near sewage treatment plants in the lower Great Lakes, Canada , 2003, Environmental toxicology and chemistry.

[68]  RELATIONSHIP OF SELECTED BIOPHYSICAL VARIABLES TO SOIL MOISTURE AND SOIL TEMPERATURE VARIABILITY , 1987 .

[69]  F. Borrull,et al.  Pressurized liquid extraction of pharmaceuticals from sewage-sludge. , 2007, Journal of separation science.

[70]  Marta Carballa,et al.  Behavior of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and hormones in a sewage treatment plant. , 2004, Water research.