2 research outputs found
Pharmaceutical Formulation Facilities as Sources of Opioids and Other Pharmaceuticals to Wastewater Treatment Plant Effluents
Facilities involved in the manufacture of pharmaceutical products are an under-investigated source of pharmaceuticals to the environment. Between 2004 and 2009, 35 to 38 effluent samples were collected from each of three wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in New York and analyzed for seven pharmaceuticals including opioids and muscle relaxants. Two WWTPs (NY2 and NY3) receive substantial flows (>20% of plant flow) from pharmaceutical formulation facilities (PFF) and one (NY1) receives no PFF flow. Samples of effluents from 23 WWTPs across the United States were analyzed once for these pharmaceuticals as part of a national survey. Maximum pharmaceutical effluent concentrations for the national survey and NY1 effluent samples were generally <1 μg/L. Four pharmaceuticals (methadone, oxycodone, butalbital, and metaxalone) in samples of NY3 effluent had median concentrations ranging from 3.4 to >400 μg/L. Maximum concentrations of oxycodone (1700 μg/L) and metaxalone (3800 μg/L) in samples from NY3 effluent exceeded 1000 μg/L. Three pharmaceuticals (butalbital, carisoprodol, and oxycodone) in samples of NY2 effluent had median concentrations ranging from 2 to 11 μg/L. These findings suggest that current manufacturing practices at these PFFs can result in pharmaceuticals concentrations from 10 to 1000 times higher than those typically found in WWTP effluents
Persistence and Potential Effects of Complex Organic Contaminant Mixtures in Wastewater-Impacted Streams
Natural and synthetic organic contaminants in municipal
wastewater
treatment plant (WWTP) effluents can cause ecosystem impacts, raising
concerns about their persistence in receiving streams. In this study,
Lagrangian sampling, in which the same approximate parcel of water
is tracked as it moves downstream, was conducted at Boulder Creek,
Colorado and Fourmile Creek, Iowa to determine in-stream transport
and attenuation of organic contaminants discharged from two secondary
WWTPs. Similar stream reaches were evaluated, and samples were collected
at multiple sites during summer and spring hydrologic conditions.
Travel times to the most downstream (7.4 km) site in Boulder Creek
were 6.2 h during the summer and 9.3 h during the spring, and to the
Fourmile Creek 8.4 km downstream site times were 18 and 8.8 h, respectively.
Discharge was measured at each site, and integrated composite samples
were collected and analyzed for >200 organic contaminants including
metal complexing agents, nonionic surfactant degradates, personal
care products, pharmaceuticals, steroidal hormones, and pesticides.
The highest concentration (>100 μg L<sup>–1</sup>)
compounds
detected in both WWTP effluents were ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid
and 4-nonylphenolethoxycarboxylate oligomers, both of which persisted
for at least 7 km downstream from the WWTPs. Concentrations of pharmaceuticals
were lower (<1 μg L<sup>–1</sup>), and several compounds,
including carbamazepine and sulfamethoxazole, were detected throughout
the study reaches. After accounting for in-stream dilution, a complex
mixture of contaminants showed little attenuation and was persistent
in the receiving streams at concentrations with potential ecosystem
implications