Occurrence of pharmaceuticals in Taiwan's surface waters: Impact of waste streams from hospitals and pharmaceutical production facilities
Journal
Science of the Total Environment
Journal Volume
407
Journal Issue
12
Pages
3793-3802
Date Issued
2009
Author(s)
Abstract
We investigated the occurrence and distribution of pharmaceuticals (including antibiotics, estrogens, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), beta-blockers, and lipid regulators) in three rivers and in the waste streams of six hospitals and four pharmaceutical production facilities in Taiwan. The most frequently detected pharmaceuticals were acetaminophen, erythromycin-H2O, sulfamethoxazole, and gemfibrozil. NSAIDs were the next most-often detected compounds, with a detection frequency > 60%. The other analytes were not detected or were seen in only a few samples at trace concentrations. The present study demonstrates a significant discharge of human medications from hospital and drug production facilities into surface waters in the Taipei district. The high concentrations of pharmaceuticals found in the Sindian and Dahan rivers demonstrate the alarming degree to which they have been impacted by urban drainage (waste effluents from hospitals, households, and pharmaceutical production facilities). The ubiquitous occurrence at extremely high concentrations of acetaminophen and erythromycin-H2O in both rivers (up to 15.7 and 75.5 μg/L) and in wastewater from hospitals and pharmaceutical production facilities (up to 417.5 and 7.84 μg/L) was unique. This finding, in combination with acetaminophen's status as the drug most often prescribed by Taiwan's dominant clinical institute, suggests the potential use of acetaminophen as a molecular indicator of contamination of Taiwan's aqueous environments with untreated urban drainage. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Subjects
Antibiotics; Drug production facility effluents; Hospital effluents; Pharmaceuticals
Other Subjects
Analytes; Aqueous environments; Beta-blockers; Detection frequencies; Drug production facility effluents; Gemfibrozil; High concentrations; Hospital effluents; Lipid regulators; Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; Occurrence and distributions; Pharmaceutical productions; Pharmaceuticals; Sulfamethoxazole; Trace concentrations; Urban drainages; Waste streams; Effluents; Hospitals; Rivers; Wastewater; Antibiotics; antibiotic agent; beta adrenergic receptor blocking agent; erythromycin; estrogen; gemfibrozil; nonsteroid antiinflammatory agent; paracetamol; sulfamethoxazole; surface water; water; antibiotics; concentration (composition); drainage; surface water; urban area; wastewater; water quality; article; concentration (parameters); drug industry; effluent; household; land drainage; priority journal; river; Taiwan; urban area; waste water; water analysis; water contamination; Acetaminophen; Drug Industry; Environmental Monitoring; Hospitals; Medical Waste; Pharmaceutical Preparations; Rivers; Taiwan; Water Pollutants, Chemical; Water Supply; Asia; Dahan River; Eurasia; Far East; Taiwan; Xindian River
Type
journal article