Abstract
Beta-agonist pharmaceuticals are widely used in humans and livestock for disease treatment, legal or illegal growth promotion in food animals, bodybuilding, weight loss, and sports doping. The occurrence of beta-agonists in wastewater treatment plants and their subsequent environmental impacts require greater attention. This study determined the levels of 12 beta-agonists in a wastewater treatment plant and evaluated their ecotoxicological risks as well as consumption levels and risks to human health. Among the 12 selected beta-agonists, all were detected in wastewater and 11 in sludge. In most cases, the concentrations of beta-agonists were higher in spring than in summer. Their total average daily mass loads per capita in the influent and effluent were 1.35 μg/d/p and 2.11 μg/d/p, respectively. The overall removal efficiencies of individual beta-agonists ranged from -295.3 to 71.2%. Ecotoxicological risk assessment revealed a low risk to daphnid and green algae from the levels of fenoterol and the mixture of 12 selected beta-agonists in the effluent. The daily consumption levels of individual beta-agonists per capita were 0.028–1.200 μg/d/p. Regular monitoring of beta-agonists in municipal sewage systems and their risk assessment based on toxicological data are urgently required in the future.
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Acknowledgements
The authors greatly acknowledge the Department of Environment and Health, School of Public Health, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University for providing the infrastructure facilities and support to conduct the experiments.
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This study was supported by National Key Research and Development Program of China (2020YFC1806904-1).
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The study conception, supervision, funding acquisition, and project administration were performed by Xuewen Li. Material preparation, sample collection and laboratory analysis were performed by Kefang Li, Xiangwei Zhao, Huiyun Zou, and Ling Zhao. Data processing and analysis were performed by Hui Zhang. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Hui Zhang, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Zhang, H., Li, K., Zhao, X. et al. Occurrence, consumption level, fate and ecotoxicology risk of beta-agonist pharmaceuticals in a wastewater treatment plant in Eastern China. Environ Monit Assess 195, 481 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-023-11099-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-023-11099-8