Fate of drugs during wastewater treatment

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2013 Elsevier B.V.Recent trends in the determination of pharmaceutical drugs in wastewaters focus on the development of rapid multi-residue methods. This review addresses recent analytical trends in drug determination in environmental matrices used to facilitate fate studies. Analytical requirements for further fate evaluation and tertiary process selection and optimization are also discussed.EPSRC, Northumbrian Water, Anglian Water, Severn Trent Water, Yorkshire Water, and United Utilities

Land use regression modeling of intra-urban residential variability in multiple traffic-related air pollutants

Background: There is a growing body of literature linking GIS-based measures of traffic density to asthma and other respiratory outcomes. However, no consensus exists on which traffic indicators best capture variability in different pollutants or within different settings. As part of a study on childhood asthma etiology, we examined variability in outdoor concentrations of multiple traffic-related air pollutants within urban communities, using a range of GIS-based predictors and land use regression techniques. Methods: We measured fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and elemental carbon (EC) outside 44 homes representing a range of traffic densities and neighborhoods across Boston, Massachusetts and nearby communities. Multiple three to four-day average samples were collected at each home during winters and summers from 2003 to 2005. Traffic indicators were derived using Massachusetts Highway Department data and direct traffic counts. Multivariate regression analyses were performed separately for each pollutant, using traffic indicators, land use, meteorology, site characteristics, and central site concentrations. Results: PM2.5 was strongly associated with the central site monitor (R2 = 0.68). Additional variability was explained by total roadway length within 100 m of the home, smoking or grilling near the monitor, and block-group population density (R2 = 0.76). EC showed greater spatial variability, especially during winter months, and was predicted by roadway length within 200 m of the home. The influence of traffic was greater under low wind speed conditions, and concentrations were lower during summer (R2 = 0.52). NO2 showed significant spatial variability, predicted by population density and roadway length within 50 m of the home, modified by site characteristics (obstruction), and with higher concentrations during summer (R2 = 0.56). Conclusion: Each pollutant examined displayed somewhat different spatial patterns within urban neighborhoods, and were differently related to local traffic and meteorology. Our results indicate a need for multi-pollutant exposure modeling to disentangle causal agents in epidemiological studies, and further investigation of site-specific and meteorological modification of the traffic-concentration relationship in urban neighborhoods

Biofiltration of wastewater treatment plant effluent: Effective removal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products and reduction of toxicity

This study investigates biofiltration for the removal of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), and for the reduction of non-specific toxicity expressed as baseline toxicity equivalent concentration (baseline-TEQ). Two filtering media, sand and granular activated carbon, were tested. The influence of pre-ozonation and empty-bed contact time (EBCT, from 30 to 120 min) was determined. The experiments were performed at a pilot-scale with real WWTP effluent. A previous study showed that biological activity had developed on the filtering media and dissolved organic removal had reached a steady state before sampling commenced. The results show that biological activated carbon (BAC) has a good potential for the removal of DOC (35–60%), PPCPs (>90%) and baseline-TEQ (28–68%) even without pre-ozonation. On the contrary, the sand shows limited improvement of effluent quality. Varying the EBCT does not influence the performance of the BAC filters; however, dissolved oxygen concentration could be a limiting factor. The performances of the BAC filters were stable for over two years suggesting that the main mechanism of organic matter and PPCPs removal is biodegradation. It is concluded that BAC filtration without pre-ozonation could be implemented as a low cost advanced treatment option to improve WWTP effluent chemical quality

Effective removal of micropollutants without reverse osmosis processes

This study evaluates the chemical quality of the water produced by a full-scale reclamation plant based on the combination of ozonation and activated carbon filtration and by pilot scale biofilters (sand and activated carbon). The chemical quality was assessed by the quantification of micropollutants (pharmaceuticals and pesticides) along the full scale treatment train and after biofiltration. Results show that the full scale process efficiently removes the targeted micropollutants, the key steps are the main ozonation and the activated carbon filtration. The sand biofilter did not show significant removal of micropollutants whereas as the biological activated carbon filters were able to remove most of the detected micropollutants below their limit of quantification

Ozonation and biological activated carbon filtration of wastewater treatment plant effluents

This study investigates the fate of trace organic chemicals (TrOCs) in three full-scale reclamation plants using ozonation followed by biological activated carbon (BAG) filtration to treat wastewater treatment plant effluents. Chemical analysis was used to quantify a wide range of TrOCs and combined with bioanalytical tools to assess non-specific toxicity (Microtox assay) and estrogenicity (E-SCREEN assay). Limited dissolved organic carbon (DOC) removal