Comparison of measured and predicted concentrations of selected pharmaceuticals in wastewater and surface water: A case study of a catchment area in the Po Valley (Italy)

Verlicchi, Paola; Aukidy, M. Al; Jelić, Aleksandra; Petrović, Mira; Barceló, Damià

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.10.026

Cited by 135 publications

(86 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Although no legal limits have been established in water, relevant legislation and regulatory guidance has been issued by the European Union (EU) (Verlicchi et al, 2014). authorization.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental impact of pharmaceuticals from Portuguese wastewaters: geographical and seasonal occurrence, removal and risk assessment

Pereira

Silva

Meisel

et al. 2015

Environmental Research

188

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The occurrence, fate, geographical and seasonal influence and environmental risk assessment of eleven of the most consumed pharmaceuticals in Portugal were studied in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) influents and (WWI) and effluents (WWE). WWI and WWE samples, from two sampling campaigns (spring and summer), in 2013, were evaluated in 15 different WWTPs across the country, by solid phase extraction (SPE) and liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass detection (LC-MS-MS). Lipid regulators were the most frequently found in WWI and WWE (184.1 and 22.3mg/day/1000 inhab., respectively), followed by anti-inflammatories (1339.4 and 15.0mg/day/1000 inhab., respectively), and antibiotics (330.7 and 68.6 mg/day/1000 inhab., respectively). Anxiolytics were the least detected with 3.3 and 3.4 mg/day/1000 inhab. in WWI and WWE, respectively. The mass loads, both in WWI and WWE, were higher in summer than those found during the spring season, being remarkable the high values registered in a region where population triplicates in this time of the year. The mean removal efficiency achieved was of 94.5%, nonetheless, between the different therapeutic groups, as well as within each group, important variations in removal were observed, going from not eliminated to 100%. In the summer higher efficiencies were observed regarding lipid regulators and antibiotics. Furthermore, an important outcome was the evaluation, by means of risk quotients (RQs), of the potential ecotoxicological risk posed by the selected pharmaceuticals to different aquatic organisms, exposed to the effluents studied. Ciprofloxacin, bezafibrate, gemfibrozil, simvastatin and diclofenac showed RQs higher than one, being expected that these pharmaceuticals might pose a threat to the three trophic levels (algae, daphnids and fish) evaluated. These results highlight the importance of these monitoring studies, as required by the Directive 2013/39/EU, in order to minimize their aquatic environmental contamination and support future prioritization measures.

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“…Although no legal limits have been established in water, relevant legislation and regulatory guidance has been issued by the European Union (EU) (Verlicchi et al, 2014). authorization.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental impact of pharmaceuticals from Portuguese wastewaters: geographical and seasonal occurrence, removal and risk assessment

Pereira

Silva

Meisel

et al. 2015

Environmental Research

188

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“…The occurrence of PPCP and hormones in aquatic ecosystems has been widely studied in many countries (Bendz et al 2005;Camacho-Muñoz et al 2010;Esteban et al 2014;Moldovan 2006;Petrović et al 2014;Ternes 1998;Verlicchi et al 2014;Wang et al 2012). However, these studies are still very limited in Brazil (Caldas et al 2013;de Sousa et al 2014;Jardim et al 2012;Kuster et al 2009;Montagner and Jardim 2011;Sodré et al 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A 3-year study on occurrence of emerging contaminants in an urban stream of São Paulo State of Southeast Brazil

Campanha

Awan

Sousa

et al. 2014

Environ Sci Pollut Res

154

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This manuscript reports a 3-year study on occurrence of pharmaceuticals, hormones, and triclosan in surface waters of a central urban region of São Paulo State of Southeast Brazil (the Monjolinho River in São Carlos). Water samples collected once at every 2 months were pre-concentrated by solid-phase extraction (SPE) and analyzed by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The most frequently detected compounds in higher concentrations were caffeine, paracetamol, and atenolol (maximum concentrations 129,585, 30,421, and 8199 ng L(-1), respectively), while hormones estrone and 17-β-estradiol were the least detected, in levels up to 14.8 ng L(-1). There was an increasing trend in concentrations of most of the compounds along the river course, especially downstream of the river where there is discharge of both wastewater treatment plant effluent and raw sewage from a particular region of São Carlos city. Concentrations of contaminants were higher during dry periods as a result of decline in the water levels. Decrease in concentrations near the river mouth occurred to different extents for each compound. It was high for caffeine and atenolol, but was very low for carbamazepine and diclofenac. The present study reports the first data about the occurrence of some major emerging contaminants in the Monjolinho River. Besides its regional significance, this work may assist in composing a dataset for water contamination diagnosis focusing on emerging contaminants, both in the Brazilian as well as in the Global studies related to aquatic ecosystems. Such datasets can be helpful for making future public policies on water quality, since these compounds are not yet legally regulated.

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“…In general, good correlations were observed, except for venlafaxine. Finally, Verlicchi et al performed a comparison for 11 antibiotics and carbamazepine concentrations in influent sewage from 1 Italian STP with annual, national consumption data (Verlicchi et al 2014). Also, here, a variable correlation was observed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 77%

“…Only limited studies are available that investigate the correlation between the consumption of pharmaceuticals and their presence in influent sewage (Carballa et al 2008;Lai et al 2011;Morasch et al 2010;Tauxe-Wuersch et al 2005;Verlicchi et al 2014). However, often, these studies include pharmaceuticals that are subjective to large variations in consumption and also can be sold over the counter: antibiotics, analgesics, and anti-inflammatory drugs.…”

Section: Predicted and Measured Loadsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, the PL/ML ratio of carbamazepine in influent sewage was evaluated in three other studies. Variable results were observed, which is probably related with the large variability in the used correction factor for its excretion pattern (Carballa et al 2008;Morasch et al 2010;Verlicchi et al 2014). Morasch et al investigated the PL/ML ratio of four beta blockers (atenolol, metoprolol, propranolol, and sotalol) and three fibrates (bezafibrate, fenofibrate, and gemfibrozil) (Morasch et al 2010).…”

Section: Predicted and Measured Loadsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Do concentrations of pharmaceuticals in sewage reflect prescription figures?

Nuijs

Covaci

Beyers

et al. 2015

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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In recent years, it has been demonstrated that sewage-based epidemiology can deliver interesting information on trends in illicit drug consumption. However, until now, no real evidence exists that the measured concentrations of drugs in sewage can be exactly correlated with the amounts of drugs used by a specific population. This study aimed therefore at correlating detailed monthly prescription figures of 11 pharmaceuticals (atenolol, bisoprolol, citalopram, fluoxetine, venlafaxine, losartan, telmisartan, valsartan, carbamazepine, metformin, and tramadol) with measured concentrations of these compounds in influent sewage from five sewage treatment plants in Belgium. For 7 out of the 11 substances, a ratio between loads calculated from the prescription figures and loads calculated from measured concentrations in the range of 0.30-3.00 was observed. For four pharmaceuticals (atenolol, bisoprolol, telmisartan, and venlafaxine), the observed relationship was less pronounced. The manuscript gives an overview of the possible uncertainties that are related with the calculated correlations. This study highlights the need for gathering all the necessary information regarding sewage sampling, stability of substances in sewage, pharmacokinetics, and analytical method performance when sewage-based epidemiology studies are performed.

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Comparison of measured and predicted concentrations of selected pharmaceuticals in wastewater and surface water: A case study of a catchment area in the Po Valley (Italy)

Cited by 135 publications

References 45 publications

Environmental impact of pharmaceuticals from Portuguese wastewaters: geographical and seasonal occurrence, removal and risk assessment

Environmental impact of pharmaceuticals from Portuguese wastewaters: geographical and seasonal occurrence, removal and risk assessment

A 3-year study on occurrence of emerging contaminants in an urban stream of São Paulo State of Southeast Brazil

Do concentrations of pharmaceuticals in sewage reflect prescription figures?

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