Mass loading and removal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products including psychoactives, antihypertensives, and antibiotics in two sewage treatment plants in southern India

Pharmaceutically active compounds in aqueous environment: A status, toxicity and insights of remediation

Pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) have pernicious effects on all kinds of life forms because of their toxicological effects and are found profoundly in various wastewater treatment plant influents, hospital effluents, and surface waters. The concentrations of different pharmaceuticals were found in alarmingly high concentrations in various parts of the globe, and it was also observed that the concentration of PhACs present in the water could be eventually related to the socio-economic conditions and climate of the region. Drinking water equivalent limit for each PhAC has been calculated and compared with the occurrence data from various continents. Since these compounds are recalcitrant towards conventional treatment methods, while advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have shown better efficiency in degrading these PhACs. The performance of the AOPs have been evaluated based on percentage removal, time, and electrical energy consumed to degrade different classes of PhACs. Ozone based AOPs were found to be favorable because of their low treatment time, low cost, and high efficiency. However, complete degradation cannot be achieved by these processes, and various transformation products are formed, which may be more toxic than the parent compounds. The various transformation products formed from various PhACs during treatment have been highlighted. Significant stress has been given on the role of various process parameters, water matrix, oxidizing radicals, and the mechanism of degradation. Presence of organic compounds, nitrate, and phosphate usually hinders the degradation process, while chlorine and sulfate showed a positive effect. The role of individual oxidizing radicals, interfering ions, and pH demonstrated dissimilar effects on different groups of PhACs.

Hospital wastewater treatment by sponge membrane bioreactor coupled with ozonation process

Herein, a sponge membrane bioreactor (Sponge-MBR) combined with ozonation process was performed to remove the antibiotics which frequently existed in the hospital wastewater. Whilst seven antibiotics i.e., norfloxacin, ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, sulfamethoxazole, erythromycin, tetracycline and trimethoprim were widely used in medications, this integration was applied for the evaluation of treatment performance under different fluxes. As the results, whilst the antibiotics were eliminated about 45-93%, the tetracycline was completely removed (100%) using Sponge-MBR operated at the flux of 10 LMH. For enhancement of antibiotics removal, the ozonation process was introduced to treat the membrane permeate. Overall efficiencies were 97 ± 2% (trimethoprim), 92 ± 4% (norfloxacin), 90 ± 1% (erythromycin), 88 ± 4% (ofloxacin), 83 ± 7 (ciprofloxacin) and 66 ± 1% (sulfamethoxazole). These results demonstrated Sponge-MBR coupled with ozonation could be a prospective technology for the hospital wastewater treatment.

Fate of Triclocarban (TCC) in aquatic and terrestrial systems and human exposure

Triclocarban (TCC) is considered as contaminant of emerging concern (CEC), and ranked in the top 10 CEC occurrence. TCC is a high production volume synthetic chemical used extensively in various personal care products. This chemical will be released into the environment via incomplete wastewater treatment and untreated wastewater discharge. TCC and its transformation products (4,4'-dichlorocarbilide (DCC),1-(3-chlorophenyl)-3-phenylurea (MCC) and carbanilide (NCC),2'OH-TCC, 3'OH-TCC) were detected in the environmental matrices. Sediment organic carbon will influence TCC concentrations in suspended and bed sediments. TCC is an antimicrobial agent and also emerging endocrine disruptor that can cause immune dysfunction and affect human reproductive outcomes. Furthermore, TCC alters the expression of proteins related to binding and metabolism, skeletal muscle development and function, nervous system development and immune response. TCC has potential health risks in wildlife and humans. Several animal studies illustrate that it can cause various adverse effects, which can be monitored by antioxidant biomarkers (CAT, GST and LPO). Accumulation of TCC in organisms depends on the lipophilicity and bioavailability of TCC in sediment and water. TCC was continuously detected in aquatic system. TCC is a lipophilic compound, which can efficiently bind with lipid content. Women are more vulnerable to TCC due to substantially higher frequency and extended exposure to TCC. This review provides basic information of occurrence of TCC and the exposure levels in aquatic organisms. Several literature have shown the higher usage and human exposure levels of TCC, which provides useful information for the chemical management approaches.

Environmental Transformation of Pharmaceutical Formulations: A Scientific Review

Environmental pollution caused by pharmaceuticals and their transformation products (TPs) has become an increasingly important concern, due to the increased use of pharmaceutical formulations exposed to environmental change. Considerable concerns have been raised regarding potential toxic effects of the transformation products of pharmaceutical formulations on human health. Environmental risk assessments are mostly based on one active component, which causes different ecotoxicological effects, albeit the particular component is present in the environment as a part of a multicomponent mixture with different pharmaceuticals and excipients. The purpose of this review was to present the insight and new knowledge recently obtained by studies on the risk of pharmaceutical formulations, including all contained excipients, pharmaceuticals, and their transformation products exposed to the environment. Numerous studies have shown that the level of pharmaceuticals in the environment is below toxic concentration; however, long exposure to very low concentrations can still lead to harmful concentrations in biota. Accordingly, the findings of this study are expected to highlight the existing issues of the effect of pharmaceutical formulations to the environment, including TPs, and help to determine future research directions towards accumulating the data and improving ecological risk assessment.

Irrigation Water Quality—A Contemporary Perspective

In the race to enhance agricultural productivity, irrigation will become more dependent on poorly characterized and virtually unmonitored sources of water. Increased use of irrigation water has led to impaired water and soil quality in many areas. Historically, soil salinization and reduced crop productivity have been the primary focus of irrigation water quality. Recently, there is increasing evidence for the occurrence of geogenic contaminants in water. The appearance of trace elements and an increase in the use of wastewater has highlighted the vulnerability and complexities of the composition of irrigation water and its role in ensuring proper crop growth, and long-term food quality. Analytical capabilities of measuring vanishingly small concentrations of biologically-active organic contaminants, including steroid hormones, plasticizers, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products, in a variety of irrigation water sources provide the means to evaluate uptake and occurrence in crops but do not resolve questions related to food safety or human health effects. Natural and synthetic nanoparticles are now known to occur in many water sources, potentially altering plant growth and food standard. The rapidly changing quality of irrigation water urgently needs closer attention to understand and predict long-term effects on soils and food crops in an increasingly fresh-water stressed world.

Influence of pyrolysis temperature on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons production and tetracycline adsorption behavior of biochar derived from spent coffee ground

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of different pyrolysis temperatures on the formation of polycyclicaromatichydrocarbons (PAHs) in biochar originated spent coffee ground (SCG) and the tetracycline (TC) adsorption behavior of biochar in water. The results showed that biochar synthesized at 500 °C (SCG 500) contained low PAHs (600 µg kg^-1) and the highest TC adsorption efficiency. In addition, the characteristics, influencing factors on TC adsorption, and the related mechanisms of SCG 500 were comprehensively investigated. The results showed that the highest efficiency was observed at pH of 7 and the presence of ions in salinity solution reduced the adsorption capacity of SCG 500. The electrostatic interaction, hydrogen bonding, and π-EDA were the major adsorption mechanisms. Safety PAHs level, low-cost, widely material sources and high TC removal capacity suggested that SCG 500 was a promising environmentally friendly effective absorbent.

Psychiatrics and selected metabolites in hospital and urban wastewaters: Occurrence, removal, mass loading, seasonal influence and risk assessment

The occurrence, removal, mass loading, seasonal influence and environmental risk assessment of nine psychiatric pharmaceuticals and four of their selected metabolites, were studied in one hospital and one urban wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Ioannina city, in northwestern Greece, providing information about the efficiency of the plants and their contribution into the final receiver's flow. Samples were collected from the influents and the effluents of the plants in different sampling campaigns, from July to December 2016. Analytical methodology was based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-Orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry, after solid-phase extraction through Oasis HLB cartridges. Concentrations in both WWTPs ranged between <LOQ and 1126.3 ng/L in the influents and between <LOQ and 1127.4 ng/L, in the effluents. Results indicated that venlafaxine and its metabolite O-desmethyl venlafaxine were the most frequently detected compounds in the influents and the effluents of both WWTPs. Metabolite to parent compound ratio ranged in the influents between 0.01 and 87.2 while in the effluents between 0.01 and 47.7. Based on mass loads in the influents, venlafaxine is consumed in high amounts (up to 67.1 mg/day/1000 inhab.), and consequently its metabolite O-desmethyl venlafaxine (up to 139.1 mg/day/1000 inhab.). Similarly to the influents, environmental emissions, were also higher for venlafaxine and O-desmethyl venlafaxine (10.1 and 13.3 mg/d/1000 inhab., respectively). Removal efficiencies in the hospital WWTP ranged from -100% to 98.9%, while in the city WWTP from -49.9% to 99.8%. Furthermore, an important outcome was the evaluation of the potential ecotoxicological risk, by means of risk quotients (RQs), where none of the target psychiatrics or their metabolites showed RQ above 1.

Fate of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in a wastewater treatment plant with parallel secondary wastewater treatment train

Seasonal variations in the concentrations and fate of 20 selected pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) were investigated over one year in a wastewater treatment plant in New Zealand, which relies on a membrane bioreactor (MBR) and Bardenpho as parallel processes for its secondary treatment. Results showed that all of the monitored PPCPs were detected in the wastewater influent. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) and caffeine were predominant in the influent, whereas in the effluent, β-blockers and benzotriazole were present at significant concentrations. Total PPCPs' concentration in the influent was found to be 130 μg/L. Average removal efficiency was found to be ≥ 99% for acetaminophen, caffeine, TCEP, naproxen, and ibuprofen, whereas <50% of trimethoprim, metoprolol, and benzotriazole were removed. Contrary to the existing literature, no significant differences were found in the removal of PPCPs through MBR and Bardenpho processes, hinting that optimally operated Bardenpho can be equally effective in the removal of emerging contaminants as MBR. The occurrence and removal efficiencies of PPCPs were found to exhibit significant seasonal variations, with the highest influent concentrations of PPCPs reported in autumn and winter. Heavy rainfall had an insignificant impact on PPCPs' removal efficiencies although it resulted in much-diluted concentrations of PPCPs in the influent. Spearman's correlation analysis showed significant correlations between PPCPs' mass loads in the influent, wastewater quality parameters, and environmental factors. It was also found that, except sulfamethoxazole, ecotoxicity risks were minimal for the rest of the monitored PPCPs in wastewater effluent.

Isolation and identification of Pseudomonas from wastewater, its immobilization in cellulose biopolymer and performance in degrading Triclosan

Triclosan (TCS) is a well-known emerging contaminant got wide use in daily use products of domestic purpose, which provides the way to enter the ecological cycle, and is preferably detected in sewage treatment plants. In this study, TCS degrading bacteria (TDB) was isolated and identified from a wastewater treatment plant at the National Institute of Technology-Karnataka, Surathkal (NITK), India. The isolate was reported as Pseudomonas strain by performing 16S RNA Sequencing using BLAST analysis. Bacterial growth depends upon several environmental factors. Hence its growth optimization was carried out by response surface method (RSM) based central composite design (CCD) and validated by the artificial neural network (ANN). The Parameters or inputs used for optimization are pH, time (days), agitation (rpm) and sorbent dosage (μg/L). Experiments were conducted in batch mode to achieve optimum growth of bacteria based on RSM trial runs. The RSM model predictions were in better agreement with the experimental results and it was confirmed by ANN. The deviation lies within ±10% with experimental results compared to ANN for maximum trials. Hence optimized parameters were established and arrived at pH - 7, time - 13 days, agitation - 150 rpm, dosage - 1.5 μg/L presented 69% removal of TCS. Minimum inhibitory assay of isolated strain was conducted to identify the degradation capacity of TCS and it was found out to be lesser than 0.025 mg of TCS. Later the strain was immobilized in two different matrices. One is biopolymer extracted from cellulose (Water Hyacinth) along with sodium alginate and second is free bacteria with sodium alginate and was made in the form of beads. The removal of TCS by TDB-cellulose-alginate (BCA) and TDB-Alginate (BA) beads were 58% and 30% respectively. Hence it was concluded that BCA beads showed effective removal compared to BA beads. Therefore, isolate can degrade TCS when the concentration ranges from 0.025 mg/L to 5.5 ng/L.

Seasonal occurrence and fate of chiral pharmaceuticals in different sewage treatment systems in Hong Kong: Mass balance, enantiomeric profiling, and risk assessment

Concern about the presence of chiral pharmaceuticals in the environment from wastewater discharge is mounting. In this work, the occurrence and fate of atenolol, metoprolol, venlafaxine, and chloramphenicol, including 10 different stereoisomers, were investigated in sewage and sludge from diverse treatment processes in 4 sewage treatment plants (STPs) in Hong Kong via 4 sampling campaigns over a period of 2 years. The average amounts of individual pharmaceuticals entering the STPs ranged from 4.91 g/d to 6290 g/d, with sludge carrying much lower amounts than the discharged effluent. Mass balance analysis revealed that: larger quantities of these pharmaceuticals were released during the dry seasons, biodegradation was the primary removal mechanism for atenolol and chloramphenicol, and the removal via primary sedimentation and disinfection processes was insignificant (<30%). Selectivity toward R-(+)-atenolol, S-(-)-metoprolol, and R-(-)-venlafaxine was mostly found across secondary-treated effluent samples. Sold as an enantiopure pharmaceutical in R,R-para-form, chloramphenicol was preferentially eliminated after biological process. This is the first study on the occurrence of chloramphenicol enantiomers in the aquatic environment. Ecotoxicological assessment indicated that atenolol and metoprolol could pose risks to marine fish in effluent-receiving waters (i.e., the western waters and Victoria Harbor) of Hong Kong, while R-(+)-atenolol could pose a risk to protozoans five times higher than the S-(-)-enantiomer.

Assessment of 83 pharmaceuticals in WWTP influent and effluent samples by UHPLC-MS/MS: Hourly variation

The removal efficiency of pharmaceuticals in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is variable and some of these compounds pass these plants almost intact and others presenting a removal efficiency close to 100%. Their incomplete removal results in a continuous discharge of pharmaceuticals into the environment. To assess the profile of contamination of influents and effluents over a day, a set of 83 pharmaceuticals were evaluated hourly in a WWTP in Leiria, Portugal. The composite samples of the influent and effluent were also collected. Concentrations varied from <MDL for ketoprofen, clarithromycin, ofloxacin, and diltiazem to 63.97 μg/L for caffeine in the WWTP influent composite sample and <MDL for clarithromycin, bupropion, and diltiazem to 2.01 μg/L for O-desmethylvenlafaxine for effluent composite sample. Concentrations in the range of μg/L were found for hydroxyibuprofen, salicylic acid, d,l-norephedrine, and caffeine in the WWTP influent, and diclofenac, carbamazepine, O-desmethylvenlafaxine in the WWTP effluents. For the samples collected hourly, thirty-eight and twenty-nine pharmaceuticals were detected in at least one WWTP sample. In the WWTP influent the total concentration of detected pharmaceuticals was higher between 15 and 22 h and lower in the period from 23 to 10 h in the morning. In the WWTP effluent, a slight variation was noticed throughout the sampling hours. Carbamazepine, fluoxetine, sertraline, atorvastatin, caffeine, simvastatin, and trazodone were the pharmaceuticals with risk quotient (RQ) >1 in WWTP influents, and carbamazepine, fluoxetine, sertraline the pharmaceuticals with an RQ > 1 in WWTP effluents.

Photolysis of atorvastatin in aquatic environment: Influencing factors, products, and pathways

Atorvastatin (ATV), a second generation cholesterol-lowering drug, is detected frequently in natural water because of its extensive use and incomplete removal from wastewater. In this study, the photochemical behavior of ATV under simulated solar irradiation was systematically investigated in order to assess the potential of photolysis as its transformation pathway in aquatic environment. The quantum yield of ATV direct photolysis was determined to be 0.0041. Among various water components investigated, including pH, Suwannee River Fulvic Acid (SRFA), Fe³⁺, HCO₃^-, SO₄^2- and NO₃^-, the major factors contributing to the indirect photolysis of ATV were SRFA and NO₃^-, and the co-existence of SRFA and NO₃^- showed no interaction in synthetic water containing the above water components. The results were further verified in natural water samples. Singlet oxygen (¹O₂) played dominant role in the indirect photolysis of ATV, and the contributions of ¹O₂ and ·OH to the photolysis of ATV in the solution with optimum combination of water components were calculated to be 67.14% and 0.66%, respectively. Nine phototransformation intermediates were identified by liquid chromatography - time-of-flight - mass spectrometry (LC-TOF-MS), and the degradation pathways were speculated as hydroxyl addition, pyrrole-ring open and debenzamide reactions. In addition, the evolution of products in the degradation process showed that the ring-opened product P416 and hydroxylation product P575 still remained at a certain level after two days of photodegradation, which may accumulate and cause additional ecological risks. This study provides significant information for understanding the risk and fate of ATV in aquatic environment.

Sample as solid support in MSPD: A new possibility for determination of pharmaceuticals, personal care and degradation products in sewage sludge

A method based on matrix-solid phase dispersion (MSPD), focused on the principles of green analytical chemistry, aimed at the use of alternative solid supports and less toxic solvents, was developed for the simultaneous determination of 19 pharmaceuticals, 4 personal care products (PPCPs) and 4 degradation products in sewage sludge samples. Higher recoveries were achieved when 2 g sample was macerated for 5 min in a glass mortar, transferred to a centrifuge tube, and 1 min vortex agitation with 5 mL methanol. The performance of the method was evaluated through linearity, recovery, precision (intra-day), method detection and quantification limits (MDL and MQL) and matrix effect. The calibration curves prepared in methanol and in the matrix extract showed a correlation coefficient ranging from 0.98 to 0.99. MQL values ranged from 1.25 to 1250 ng g^-1. Recoveries between 50 and 120% were reached with RSDs lower than 20% for most compounds. The method presented low and medium matrix effects for most analytes. This method was successfully applied to real samples and of the 27 compounds determined, amitriptyline, carbamazepine, diclofenac, haloperidol, ketoconazole, miconazole, albendazole, mebendazole, thiabendazole, triclosan and triclocarban were detected in concentrations between 2.5 and 5400 ng g^-1.

Biomarker response, health indicators, and intestinal microbiome composition in wild brown trout (Salmo trutta m. fario L.) exposed to a sewage treatment plant effluent-dominated stream

Concerns about the effect of sewage treatment plant (STP) effluent on the health of freshwater ecosystems have increased. In this study, a unique approach was designed to show the effect of an STP effluent-dominated stream on native wild brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) exposed under fully natural conditions. Zivny stream is located in South Bohemia, Czech Republic. The downstream site of Zivny stream is an STP-affected site, which receives 25% of its water from Prachatice STP effluent. Upstream, however, is a minimally polluted water site and it is considered to be the control site. Native fish were collected from the upstream site, tagged, and distributed to both upstream and downstream sites. After 30, 90, and 180days, fish were recaptured from both sites to determine whether the downstream site of the Zivny stream is associated with the effects of environmental pollution. Several biomarkers indicating the oxidative stress and antioxidant enzyme activities, cytochrome P450 activity, xenoestrogenic effects, bacterial composition, and lipid composition were investigated. Additionally, polar chemical contaminants (pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs)) were quantified using polar organic chemical integrative samplers (POCIS). Fifty-three PPCPs were detected in the downstream site; 36 of those were constantly present during the 180-day investigation period. Elevated hepatic 7-benzyloxy-4-trifluoromethylcoumarin-O-debenzyloxylase (BFCOD) (after 90days) and blood plasma vitellogenin concentrations in males were detected in fish downstream of the STP effluent during all sampling events. An increase in the fishes' total fat content was also observed, but with low levels of ω-3 fatty acid in muscle tissue. Two bacterial taxa related to activated sludge were found in the intestines of fish from downstream. Our results show that Prachatice STP is a major source of PPCPs in the Zivny stream, which has biological consequences on fish physiology.

Fate of pharmaceutical active compounds (PhACs) from River Yamuna, India: An ecotoxicological risk assessment approach

The river Yamuna is a major tributary of river Ganges and is a major source of freshwater in the National Capital Territory (NCT) catering 16.8 million people. This is the first report on occurrence, fate and ecotoxicological risk assessment of various pharmaceuticals active compounds (PhACs) in the Yamuna river. In this study, spatial and temporal distribution of nine PhACs "aspirin, ibuprofen, paracetamol, caffeine, ranitidine, diclofenac, carbamazepine, codeine, and diazepam", belonging to different therapeutic groups have been reported. Nine PhACs were analyzed in all the samples collected from the NCT stretch of river Yamuna. No specific trend in the distribution of the pharmaceutical residues was observed, however, the results revealed comparably higher PhACs contamination at YMN-2 (downstream Wazirabad, at this point, Najafgarh drain joins river Yamuna). Ecotoxicological risk assessment was carried out using Hazard quotients (HQ) for normal and worst case scenarios. The HQ showed that the levels of PhACs present in the samples were insufficient to cause acute toxicity to the flora and fauna of the river Yamuna. However, such residues could possibly cause chronic toxicity to the aquatic life and human beings as a huge amount of water of the river Yamuna is used for the drinking purposes in the NCT Delhi, the state capital of India.

Emerging contaminants in Indian environmental matrices - A review

The emergence of issues related to environment from ECs is a topic under serious discussions worldwide in recent years. Indian scenario is not an exception as it is tremendously growing in its rate of production and consumption of compounds belongs to ECs categories. However, a comprehensive documentation on the occurrence of ECs and consequent ARGs as well as their toxic effects on vertebrates on Indian context is still lacking. In the present study, an extensive literature survey was carried out to get an idea on the geographical distribution of ECs in various environmental matrices (water, air, soil, sediment and sludge) and biological samples by dividing the entire subcontinent into six zones based on climatic, geographical and cultural features. A comprehensive assessment of the toxicological effects of ECs and the consequent antibiotic resistant genes has been included. It is found that studies on the screening of ECs are scarce and concentrated in certain geological locations. A total of 166 individual compounds belonging to 36 categories have been reported so far. Pharmaceuticals and drugs occupy the major share in these compounds followed by PFASs, EDCs, PCPs, ASWs and flame retardants. This review throws light on the alarming situation in India where the highest ever reported values of concentrations of some of these compounds are from India. This necessitates a national level monitoring system for ECs in order to assess the magnitude of environmental risks posed by these compounds.

NGQD active sites as effective collectors of charge carriers for improving the photocatalytic performance of Z-scheme g-C3N4/Bi2WO6 heterojunctions

NGQDs as effective active sites and collectors of charge carriers in Z-scheme g-C₃N₄/Bi₂WO₆ heterojunctions.

Mass loading and removal of benzotriazoles, benzothiazoles, benzophenones, and bisphenols in Indian sewage treatment plants

Little is known about the occurrence of emerging environmental contaminants, such as benzotriazoles (BTRs), benzothiazoles (BTHs), benzophenones (BzPs), and bisphenol analogues (BPs) in India. In this study, we determined the occurrence and removal of BTRs, BTHs, BzPs, and BPs in five Indian sewage treatment plants (STPs). The respective measured mean concentrations (N = 5) in influents and effluents were 370 and 57.4 ng L^-1 for BTRs, 50800 and 20200 ng L^-1 for BTHs, 351 and 163 ng L^-1 for BzPs, and 98.0 and 9.6 ng L^-1 for BPs. Among the target chemicals analyzed, BTHs were found at elevated levels, and the measured levels were some of the highest ever reported in the literature. The mean concentrations (N = 5) of BTRs, BTHs, BzPs, and BPs in sludge were 44.2, 51200, 124, and 200 ng g^-1 dry wt, respectively. The removal efficiencies for BTRs, BTHs, BzPs, and BPs ranged as follows: 54.2-85.6%, 23.4-85.0%, 51.8-71%, and 76.0-97.0%, respectively, and were comparable to those reported for other countries. Elevated concentrations of BTHs in Indian STPs can be related to consumption of these chemicals in a wide range of products including paper, textile and rubber materials.

Removal characteristics of pharmaceuticals and personal care products: Comparison between membrane bioreactor and various biological treatment processes

We investigated the concentrations of 57 target compounds in the different treatment units of various biological treatment processes in South Korea, including modified biological nutrient removal (BNR), anaerobic-anoxic-aerobic (A2O), and membrane bioreactor (MBR) systems, to elucidate the occurrence and removal fates of PPCPs in WWTPs. Biological treatment processes appeared to be most effective in eliminating most PPCPs, whereas some PPCPs were additionally removed by post-treatment. With the exception of the MBR process, the A2O system was effective for PPCPs removal. As a result, removal mechanisms were evaluated by calculating the mass balances in A2O and a lab-scale MBR process. The comparative study demonstrated that biodegradation was largely responsible for the improved removal performance found in lab-scale MBR (e.g., in removing bezafibrate, ketoprofen, and atenolol). Triclocarban, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin and tetracycline were adsorbed in large amounts to MBR sludge. Increased biodegradability was also observed in lab-scale MBR, despite the highly adsorbable characteristics. The enhanced biodegradation potential seen in the MBR process thus likely plays a key role in eliminating highly adsorbable compounds as well as non-degradable or persistent PPCPs in other biological treatment processes.

A review of the occurrence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in Indian water bodies

Little information exists on the occurrence and the ultimate fate of pharmaceuticals in the water bodies in India despite being one of the world leaders in pharmaceutical production and consumption. This paper has reviewed 19 published reports of pharmaceutical occurrence in the aquatic environment in India [conventional activated sludge wastewater treatment plants (WTPs), hospital WTPs, rivers, and groundwater]. Carbamazepine (antipsychoactive), atenolol (antihypertensive), triclocarban and triclosan (antimicrobials), trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole (antibacterials), ibuprofen and acetaminophen (analgesics), and caffeine (stimulant) are the most commonly detected at higher concentrations in Indian WTPs that treat predominantly the domestic sewage. The concentration of ciprofloxacin, sulfamethoxazole, amoxicillin, norfloxacin, and ofloxacin in Indian WTPs were up to 40 times higher than that in other countries in Europe, Australia, Asia, and North America. A very few studies in Indian rivers reported the presence of ciprofloxacin, enoxacin, ketoprofen, erythromycin, naproxen, ibuprofen, diclofenac and enrofloxacin. Similar compounds were reported in rivers in China, indicating a similar usage pattern in both of these developing countries. In a study reported from an open well in southern India, the groundwater showed the presence of cetirizine, ciprofloxacin, enoxacin, citalopram and terbinafine, which was close to a WTP receiving effluents from pharmaceutical production.