Pharmaceutical contamination in residential, industrial, and agricultural waste streams: Risk to aqueous environments in Taiwan
Journal
Chemosphere
Journal Volume
74
Journal Issue
1
Pages
131-141
Date Issued
2008
Author(s)
Abstract
This is a comprehensive study of the occurrence of antibiotics, hormones and other pharmaceuticals in water sites that have major potential for downstream environmental contamination. These include residential (hospitals, sewage treatment plants, and regional discharges), industrial (pharmaceutical production facilities), and agricultural (animal husbandries and aquacultures) waste streams. We assayed 23 Taiwanese water sites for 97 targeted compounds, of which a significant number were detected and quantified. The most frequently detected compounds were sulfamethoxazole, caffeine, acetaminophen, and ibuprofen, followed closely by cephalexin, ofloxacin, and diclofenac, which were detected in >91% of samples and found to have median (maximum) concentrations of 0.2 (5.8), 0.39 (24.0), 0.02 (100.4), 0.41 (14.5), 0.15 (31.4), 0.14 (13.6) and 0.083 (29.8) μg/L, respectively. Lincomycin and acetaminophen had high measured concentrations (>100 μg/L), and 35 other pharmaceuticals occurred at the μg/L level. These incidence and concentration results correlate well with published data for other worldwide locations, as well as with Taiwanese medication usage data, suggesting a human contamination source. Many pharmaceuticals also occurred at levels exceeding predicted no-effect concentrations (PNEC), warranting further investigation of their occurrence and fate in receiving waters, as well as the overall risks they pose for local ecosystems and human residents. The information provided here will also be useful for development of strategies for regulation and remediation. ? 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Subjects
Antibiotics; Aquacultures; Ecotoxicity; Hospitals; Pharmaceuticals; Wastewaters
Other Subjects
Agricultural wastes; Agriculture; Antibiotics; Aquaculture; Concentration (process); Contamination; Hospitals; Industrial plants; Industrial waste treatment; Nitrogen compounds; Planning; Sewage; Sewage treatment; Sewage treatment plants; Strategic planning; Waste treatment; Wastewater; Water pollution; Animal husbandries; Aqueous environments; Cephalexin; Comprehensive studies; Contamination sources; Diclofenac; Ecotoxicity; Effect concentrations; Environmental contaminations; ibuprofens; Ofloxacin; Pharmaceutical productions; Pharmaceuticals; Receiving waters; Sulfamethoxazole; Usage datums; Waste streams; Drug products; antibiotic agent; antilipemic agent; beta adrenergic receptor blocking agent; beta adrenergic receptor stimulating agent; caffeine; cefalexin; cephalosporin derivative; chloramphenicol derivative; diclofenac; estrogen; hormone; ibuprofen; imidazole derivative; lincomycin; nonsteroid antiinflammatory agent; ofloxacin; paracetamol; penicillin derivative; psychostimulant agent; quinoline derived antiinfective agent; sulfadiazine; sulfafurazole; sulfamerazine; sulfamethizole; sulfamethoxazole; sulfanilamide; sulfasomidine; sulfathiazole; unindexed drug; vasodilator agent; agricultural runoff; antibiotics; aquaculture effluent; ecotoxicology; health risk; hospital sector; industrial waste; regulatory approach; remediation; risk assessment; strategic approach; stream; wastewater; water pollution; agricultural waste; animal husbandry; aquaculture; aquatic environment; article; concentration response; correlation analysis; drug industry; ecosystem; ecotoxicity; hospital waste; industrial waste; measurement; pollutant; risk assessment; sewage disposal; sewage treatment plant; Taiwan; waste disposal; Agriculture; Environmental Monitoring; Industrial Waste; Pharmaceutical Preparations; Risk Assessment; Taiwan; Water Pollutants, Chemical; Water Pollution; Asia; Eurasia; Far East; Taiwan; Animalia
Type
journal article
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