Presence of Pharmaceuticals and Hormones in Waters from Sewage Treatment Plants

Pedrouzo, Marta; Borrull, Francesc; Pocurull, Eva; Marcé, Rosa Maria

Presence of Pharmaceuticals and Hormones in Waters from Sewage Treatment Plants

2011

Pedrouzo, Marta | Borrull, Francesc | Pocurull, Eva | Marcé, Rosa Maria

This paper describes the presence of 33 pharmaceuticals and hormones in waters from two sewage treatment plants (STPs) situated in Catalonia, in northeastern Spain. The target compounds were one psychoactive stimulant, one antiepileptic, four analgesics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, one lipid regulators, two anti-ulcer agents, nine antibiotics (sulfonamides and macrolides), two beta-blockers, two metabolites, and 11 hormones (free and conjugates). The determination was performed using liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry after enrichment by solid-phase extraction with Oasis HLB sorbent. Most of the pharmaceuticals were found in both influent and effluent samples from the two STPs. The most frequently detected were caffeine, acetaminophen, carbamazepine, diclofenac, ibuprofen, naproxen, sulfamethoxazole, sulfapyridine, sulfathiazole, ranitidine, omeprazole, estrone 3-sulfate, and estradiol 17-glucuronide. Specifically, the highest concentrations found in influents were 19,850Â ng/L (acetaminophen), 9,945Â ng/L (caffeine), 4,215Â ng/L (ibuprofen), 5,695Â ng/L (sulfamethoxazole), and 5,140Â ng/L (sulfathiazole). Most of the pharmaceuticals present in influent waters were found in effluents at lower concentrations. The highest concentrations in effluents were 970Â ng/L (caffeine), 670Â ng/L (sulfamethoxazole), 510Â ng/L (bezafibrate), and 1,032Â ng/L (diclofenac).

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