Seasonal Variations in Concentrations of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in Drinking Water and Reclaimed Wastewater in Southern California

Abstract

Southern California imports nearly all of its potable water from two sources: the Colorado River and the California State Water Project (Sacramento-San Joaquin River Basin). Sewage treatment plant effluent (STPE) heavily impacts both of these sources. A survey of raw and treated drinking water from four water filtration plants in San Diego County showed the occurrence of several polar organic "pharmaceuticals and personal care products" (PPCP). These included phthalate esters, sunscreens, clofibrate, clofribric acid, ibuprofen, triclosan, and DEET. Several of these were also found in the finished water, such as di(ethylhexyl) phthalate, benzophenone, ibuprofen, and triclosan. Occurrence and concentrations of these compounds were highly seasonally dependent, and reached maximums when the flow of the San Joaquin River was low and the quantity of imported water was high. The maximum concentrations of the PPCPs measured in the raw water were correlated with low flow conditions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta that feeds the State Water Project. The PPCP concentrations in raw imported water in the summer months approached that of reclaimed nonpotable wastewater.

Occurrence, fate and risk assessment of personal care products in river–groundwater interface

“…A few number of studies have reported levels in WWTPs and surface water, obtaining generally lower concentrations in effluent water (Jonkers et al, 2010;Lee et al, 2005;Loraine and Pettigrove, 2006). These compounds have been also detected in sewage sludge, in sediments (Liao et al, 2013), and in biota (Ramaswamy et al, 2011).…”

Distribution, behavior and fate of azole antifungals during mechanical, biological, and chemical treatments in sewage treatment plants in China

“…Concentrations and mass loads of the azole substances were determined in raw sewage, in effluents after major treatment steps, and in sludge at two STPs located in Guangzhou, a metropolis of Southern China, in order to elucidate their distribution, transport, and fate in wastewater of China. Since climatic conditions may affect environmental occurrence and fate of pharmaceuticals (Choi et al, 2008;Loraine and Pettigrove, 2006;McArdell et al, 2003;Vieno et al, 2005), samplings were performed in different seasons to see the seasonal variations. The results would also allow us to trace pathways of the azole antifungals into the environment.…”

Evidence suggesting that di‐n‐butyl phthalate has antiandrogenic effects in fish

“…They have been detected in surface waters in Australia, Canada, the United States, Portugal the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom, China, Nigeria, and Malaysia, and have generally been measured in the low ng/L to µg/L range [8][9][10]. At times, concentrations have been reported to reach tens to hundreds of µg/L, and in some cases, high mg/L concentrations [11,12].…”