Τίτλος:
Assessment of selected pharmaceuticals in Riyadh wastewater treatment plants, Saudi Arabia: Mass loadings, seasonal variations, removal efficiency and environmental risk
Γλώσσες Τεκμηρίου:
Αγγλικά
Περίληψη:
Despite increasing interest in pharmaceutical emissions worldwide, studies of environmental contamination with pharmaceuticals arising from wastewater discharges in Saudi Arabia are scarce. Therefore, this study examined occurrence, mass loads and removal efficiency for 15 pharmaceuticals and one metabolite (oxypurinol) from different therapeutic classes in three wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), in Riyadh city in Saudi Arabia. A total of 144 samples were collected from the influents and effluents between March 2018 and July 2019 and analyzed using Solid Phase Extraction followed by triple quadrupole LC-MS/MS. The average concentrations in the influents and effluents were generally higher than their corresponding concentrations found either in previous Saudi Arabian or global studies. The four most dominant compounds in the influent were acetaminophen, ciprofloxacin, caffeine, and diclofenac, with caffeine and acetaminophen having the highest concentrations ranging between 943 and 2282 μg/L. Metformin and ciprofloxacin were the most frequently detected compounds in the effluents at concentrations as high as 33.2 μg/L. Ciprofloxacin had the highest mass load in the effluents of all three WWTPs, ranging between 0.20 and 20.7 mg/day/1000 inhabitants for different WWTPs. The overall average removal efficiency was estimated high (≥80), with no significant different (p > 0.05) between the treatment technology applied. Acetaminophen and caffeine were almost completely eliminated in all three WWTPs. The samples collected in the cold season generally had higher levels of detected compounds than those from the warm seasons, particularly for NSAID and antibiotic compounds. The estimated environmental risk from pharmaceutical compounds in the studied effluents was mostly low, except for antibiotic compounds. Thus, antibiotics should be considered for future monitoring programmes of the aquatic environment in Saudi Arabia. © 2023 Elsevier B.V.
Συγγραφείς:
Alharbi, O.A.
Jarvis, E.
Galani, A.
Thomaidis, N.S.
Nika, M.-C.
Chapman, D.V.
Περιοδικό:
Science of the Total Environment, The
Λέξεις-κλειδιά:
Antibiotics; Caffeine; Efficiency; Metabolites; Phase separation; Reclamation; Risk assessment; Risk perception; Sewage pumping plants; Wastewater treatment; Water treatment plants, Environmental contamination; Environmental risk assessment; Environmental risks; Mass load; Mass loadings; Removal efficiencies; Saudi Arabia; Seasonal variation; Waste water treatment plants; Wastewater treatment plant, Effluents, atenolol; baclofen; caffeine; cefalexin; ciprofloxacin; diclofenac; metformin; ofloxacin; oxipurinol; paracetamol; trimethoprim; antiinfective agent; drug, antibiotics; assessment method; concentration (composition); discharge; drug; efficiency measurement; effluent; emission inventory; environmental risk; future prospect; metabolite; pollutant removal; pollution monitoring; seasonal variation; wastewater treatment plant, air temperature; aquatic environment; Article; biochemical oxygen demand; chemical oxygen demand; environmental monitoring; environmental risk; flow rate; liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry; quadrupole mass spectrometry; risk assessment; Saudi Arabia; seasonal variation; sewage effluent; solid phase extraction; waste component removal; waste water treatment plant; liquid chromatography; season; sewage; tandem mass spectrometry; water management; water pollutant, Riyadh [Riyadh (PRV)]; Riyadh [Saudi Arabia]; Saudi Arabia, Acetaminophen; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Caffeine; Chromatography, Liquid; Ciprofloxacin; Environmental Monitoring; Pharmaceutical Preparations; Saudi Arabia; Seasons; Tandem Mass Spectrometry; Waste Disposal, Fluid; Water Pollutants, Chemical; Water Purification
DOI:
10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163284
