Occurrence of levofloxacin, clarithromycin and azithromycin in wastewater treatment plant in Japan

Abstract

Residual pharmaceutical products in sewage and other water environments have recently become a serious social problem in advanced countries. Among these pharmaceutical products, antibiotics have attracted special attention due to their serious impact on the ecosystem and connections to the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria. Our research intended to develop a new method to analyse the three antibiotics estimated to be released out of the body in large amounts in Japan; levofloxacin (LVFX), clarithromycin (CAM) and azithromycin (AZM), and survey the state of pollution in the sewerage. The concentrations of the water-phase antibiotics LVFX, CAM and AZM were measured in each process of activated sludge process in six wastewater treatment plants. Liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) was used to analyse solutions of the antibiotics after pretreatment with a solid phase extraction. The limits of quantification and the average recoveries for these antibiotics in the influent were 1.2 to 29 ng/L and 46 to 93%, respectively. In the influent, LVFX, CAM and AZM were detected at concentrations of 552, 647 and 260 ng/L, respectively, while their removal efficiencies were 42, 43 and 49%, respectively. Although the CAM and AZM concentrations decreased as the treatment progressed, it was shown that the LVFX concentration increased in activated sludge reactors in some cases. Despite differences in octanol-water partition coefficients among LVFX, CAM and AZM, their removal efficiency showed no major difference. This indicates that this removal phenomenon cannot be explained by simple adsorption by the activated sludge.

Aqueous chlorination of levofloxacin: Kinetic and mechanistic study, transformation product identification and toxicity

“…LVF was detected in influents of many waste water treatment plants. Activated sludge treatment was found to achieve a removal efficiency of 42% from an inlet concentration of 552 ng/L (Yasojima et al, 2006). In surface water, LVF was detected at several sites at concentrations up to 87.4 ng/L (Kim et al, 2009).…”

Removal of pharmaceuticals in secondary wastewater treatment processes in Taiwan

“…Many researchers have reported the removal efficiencies of secondary treatment processes [19,[22][23][24][25]. Up to 96% of ␤-blockers were successfully removed by German and Canadian STPs [26,27], while 92-100% of NSAIDs and 57-83% of benzofibrates were removed by facilities in Finland.…”

Présence et devenir des médicaments dans les eaux usées urbaines, une analyse bibliographique

“…Ils sont dépourvus de toxicité pour les autres microorganismes ou cellules. Les travaux qui concernent la détection des antibiotiques dans l'environnement sont de plus en plus nombreux (BATT et al, 2006;BROWN et al, 2006;HIRSCH et al 1999;KARTHIKEYAN et MEYER, 2006;LARSON et al, 2007;LÖFFLER et TERNES, 2003;MANAGAKI et al, 2007;NAKADA et al, 2007;XU et al, 2007;YASOJIMA et al, 2006) en raison de leur grande consommation et de leur éco et bio-toxicité (HALLING-SØRENSEN et al, 1998;KÜMPEL et al, 2001). La présence des antibiotiques dans l'environnement aquatique pose deux problèmes : i) la toxicité potentielle de ces composés par rapport aux organismes aquatiques (COSTANZO et al, 2005;KIM et CERNIGLIA, 2005) et aux êtres humains via l'eau à potabiliser; ii) la possibilité d'apparition de résistance chez des bactéries pathogènes (GOÑI-URRIZA et al, 2000;HOLM et al, 1995).…”

“…De nombreuses études récentes réalisées tant en Europe (BENDZ et al, 2005;CALAMARI et al, 2003;CASTIGLIONI et al, 2006;COMORETTO et CHIRON, 2005;ELBAZ-POULICHET et al, 2002;FERRARI et al, 2003;GÖBEL et al, 2005;HEBERER, 2002;KASPRZYK-HORDEN et al 2008;LINDQVIST et al, 2005;LOOS et al, 2007;MACARDELL et al, 2003;PENA et al, 2007 (ANDERSON et al, 2004;BATT et al, 2006;BENOTTI et BROWNAWELL, 2007;BROWN et al, 2006;GAGNE et al, 2006;GODFREY et coll., 2007;HALDEN et PAULL, 2005;HOENICKE et al, 2007;KARTHIKEYAN et MEYER, 2006;KIM et CARLSON, 2006;KOLPIN et al, 2002;LORAINE et PETTIGROVE, 2003;PALMER et al, 2008;ZHANG et al, 2007), en Amérique et du Sud (MARTINS et al, 2008;SIEMENS et al, 2008;STUMPF et al, 1999) qu'en Asie (CHANG et al, 2007;KRUAWAL et al, 2005;LARSSON et al, 2007MA et al, 2007MANAGAKI et al, 2007;NAKADA et al, 2006;NAKADA et al, 2007;XU et al, 2007;YASOJIMA et al, 2006) montrent l'universalité de la présence de composés pharmaceutiques ou d'origine médicale (comme les produits de diagnostic et les ra...…”