Assessing hospital impact on pharmaceutical levels in a rural 'source-to-sink' water system.

Autor: Niemi L; Environmental Research Institute, University of the Highlands and Islands, Castle Street, Thurso KW14 7JD, UK; The James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen AB15 8QH, UK. Electronic address: lydia.niemi@uhi.ac.uk., Taggart M; Environmental Research Institute, University of the Highlands and Islands, Castle Street, Thurso KW14 7JD, UK., Boyd K; Environmental Research Institute, University of the Highlands and Islands, Castle Street, Thurso KW14 7JD, UK., Zhang Z; The James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen AB15 8QH, UK., Gaffney PPJ; Environmental Research Institute, University of the Highlands and Islands, Castle Street, Thurso KW14 7JD, UK., Pfleger S; NHS Highland, John Dewar Building, Highlander Way, Inverness IV2 7GE, UK., Gibb S; Environmental Research Institute, University of the Highlands and Islands, Castle Street, Thurso KW14 7JD, UK.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: The Science of the total environment [Sci Total Environ] 2020 Oct 01; Vol. 737, pp. 139618. Date of Electronic Publication: 2020 May 22.
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139618
Abstrakt: It is widely recognised that inadequate removal of pharmaceuticals in wastewater may lead to their presence in surface waters. Hospitals are key point-sources for pharmaceuticals entering municipal waterways, and rural hospitals are of concern as receiving wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) may be smaller, less advanced and thus less efficient. While most research has focused on urban settings, here we present results from a rural ''source-to-sink'' study around a hospital. The aim was to determine the contribution of pharmaceuticals discharged to a municipal wastewater system, and, to assess pharmaceutical removal efficiency in the WWTP. Samples were collected daily for one month to assess water quality and pharmaceuticals in the broader water cycle: (i) raw water supply; (ii) treated hospital tap water; (iii) hospital wastewater discharge; (iv) combined WWTP influent; and (v) final WWTP effluent. Target compounds included analgesics/antiinflammatories, antibiotics, psychiatric drugs, and a synthetic estrogen hormone. Concentrations ranged from: 3 ng/L (carbamazepine) to 105,910 ng/L (paracetamol) in hospital discharge; 5 ng/L (ibuprofen) to 105,780 ng/L (paracetamol) in WWTP influent; and 60 ng/L (clarithromycin) to 36,201 ng/L (paracetamol) in WWTP effluent. WWTP removal ranged from 87% (paracetamol) to <0% (carbamazepine and clarithromycin), and significant correlations with water quality characteristics and WWTP flow data were observed for some compounds. Results suggested that the hospital is an important source of certain pharmaceuticals entering municipal wastewater, and associated water quality parameters are impacted. Pharmaceutical persistence in the WWTP effluent highlighted the direct pathway these compounds have into receiving surface water, where their impact remains uncharacterised. Rural regions may face future challenges mitigating environmental risk as WWTP infrastructure ages, populations grow and pharmaceutical use and diversity continue to increase.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
Externí odkaz: