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The influence of solid-liquid coefficient in the fate of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in aerobic wastewater treatment

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Abstract

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are considered to be a source of environmental contamination by micropollutants, especially from pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PCPs). The pathway of those compounds during sewage treatment has been investigated, but data from real-scale WWTPs is still missing (for example, the values of the solid-liquid coefficient (Kd) during treatment). This paper uses the Kd values for some pharmaceuticals and PCPs (fenofibrate, gemfibrozil, propranolol, metoprolol, salicylic acid, acetylsalicylic acid, ibuprofen, diclofenac, naproxen, fenoprofen, caffeine, triclosan, methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben, and benzylparaben) to describe the micropollutants’ behavior in the treatment process. In order to attain this data, an aerobic wastewater treatment plant located in Brazil was studied. Six samplings were carried out and a mass balance was performed, associating the concentrations of the micropollutants in the liquid phase with the solid phase (sludge and suspended solids). Of all the compounds analyzed, caffeine was the most biodegradable pollutant, as almost 98% of its mass was biodegraded. In contrast, triclosan had the highest load in sludge (median of 163.0 mg day−1) and adsorbed in SS (median of 0.593 mg day−1) at the output. Summing up, each micropollutant had a specific way to be removed during wastewater treatment.

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Acknowledgments

The whole study was developed at the Federal University of Paraná and the Federal Technological University of Paraná.

Funding

This study was supported financially by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel, CAPES) and Fundação Araucária.

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  1. Rafael D. Kramer

    Present address: Chemistry and Biology Department, Federal Technological University of Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hydraulic and Sanitation Department, Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil

    Rafael D. Kramer & Júlio César R. de Azevedo

  2. Chemistry and Biology Department, Federal Technological University of Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil

    Tais C. Filippe, Marcelo R. Prado & Júlio César R. de Azevedo

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  1. Rafael D. Kramer
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Kramer, R.D., Filippe, T.C., Prado, M.R. et al. The influence of solid-liquid coefficient in the fate of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in aerobic wastewater treatment. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 25515–25525 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-2609-7

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