Abstract
The project studied the occurrence, fate, and seasonal variation of 14 antibiotics, from five wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Shanghai. The results indicated that ofloxacin, sulfamethoxazole, and oxytetracycline were the predominant antibiotics, with maximum concentrations of 1208.20, 959.13, and 564.30 ng/L in influents, while 916.88, 106.60, and 337.81 ng/L in effluents, respectively. The level of antibiotics in WWTPs obviously varied with seasonal changes, and higher detectable frequencies and concentrations were found in winter. The daily mass loads per capita of amoxicillin, enrofloxacin, and oxytetracycline in the study were all higher than those in other regions/countries, such as Hong Kong, Australia, and Italy. The elimination of antibiotics through these WWTPs was incomplete, and a wide range of removal efficiencies during the different treatment process and seasons were observed (−500.56 to 100 % in winter and −124.24 to 94.21 % in summer). Sulfonamides were relatively easy to be removed in WWTPs and the ultraviolet (UV) process can effectively improve the removal efficiency. Risk assessment of antibiotics in effluents was estimated. Only AMOX’s hazard quotient (HQ) was higher than 0.01. Even though the environmental risks in the study were estimated to be low, the potential negative effects on aquatic ecosystems should call our attention as continually discharge in the long term.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Batt AL, Bruce IB, Aga DS (2006) Evaluating the vulnerability of surface waters to antibiotic contamination from varying wastewater treatment plant discharges. Environ Pollut 142:295–302
Carvalho RN, Ceriani L, Alessio I, Lettieri T (2015) Development of the first Watch List under the Environmental Quality Standards Directive. Joint Research Centre. https://ec.europa.eu/jrc
Castiglioni S, Bagnati R, Fanelli R, Pomati F, Calamari D, Zuccato E (2006) Removal of pharmaceuticals in sewage treatment plants in Italy. Environ Sci Technol 40:357–363
Cha JM, Yang S, Carlson KH (2006) Trace determination of beta-lactam antibiotics in surface water and urban wastewater using liquid chromatography combined with electrospray tandem mass spectrometry. J Chromatogr A 1115:46–57
Chang H, Hu JY, Wang LZ, Shao B (2008) Occurrence of sulfonamide antibiotics in sewage treatment plants. Chinese Sci Bull 53:514–520
Chen K, Zhou JL (2014) Occurrence and behavior of antibiotics in water and sediments from the Huangpu River, Shanghai, China. Chemosphere 95:604–612
Focazio MJ, Kolpin DW, Barnes KK, Furlong ET, Meyer MT, Zaugg SD, Barber LB, Thurman ME (2008) A national reconnaissance for pharmaceuticals and other organic wastewater contaminants in the United States—II) untreated drinking water sources. Sci Total Environ 402:201–216
Gobel A, Thomsen A, Mcardell CS, Joss A, Giger W (2005) Occurrence and sorption behavior of sulfonamides, macrolides, and trimethoprim in activated sludge treatment. Environ Sci Technol 39:3981–3989
Golovko O, Kumar V, Fedorova G, Randak T, Grabic R (2014) Seasonal changes in antibiotics, antidepressants/psychiatric drugs, antihistamines and lipid regulators in a wastewater treatment plant. Chemosphere 111:418–426
Grung M, Kallqvist T, Sakshaug S, Skurtveit S, Thomas KV (2008) Environmental assessment of Norwegian priority pharmaceuticals based on the EMEA guideline. Ecotox Environ Safe 71:328–340
Hernando MD, Mezcua M, Fernandez-Alba AR, Barcelo D (2006) Environmental risk assessment of pharmaceutical residues in wastewater effluents, surface waters and sediments. Talanta 69:334–342
Hirsch R, Ternes T, Haberer K, Kratz KL (1999) Occurrence of antibiotics in the aquatic environment. Sci Total Environ 225:109–118
Hu XG, Zhou QX, Luo Y (2010) Occurrence and source analysis of typical veterinary antibiotics in manure, soil, vegetables and groundwater from organic vegetable bases, northern China. Environ Pollut 158:2992–2998
Jia A, Wan Y, Xiao Y, Hu JY (2012) Occurrence and fate of quinolone and fluoroquinolone antibiotics in a municipal sewage treatment plant. Water Res 46:387–394
Karthikeyan KG, Meyer MT (2006) Occurrence of antibiotics in wastewater treatment facilities in Wisconsin, USA. Sci Total Environ 361:196–207
Kasprzyk-Hordern B, Dinsdale RM, Guwy AJ (2008) Multiresidue methods for the analysis of pharmaceuticals, personal care products and illicit drugs in surface water and wastewater by solid-phase extraction and ultra performance liquid chromatography-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry. Anal Bioanal Chem 391:1293–1308
Kasprzyk-Hordern B, Dinsdale RM, Guwy AJ (2009) The removal of pharmaceuticals, personal care products, endocrine disruptors and illicit drugs during wastewater treatment and its impact on the quality of receiving waters. Water Res 43:363–380
Katsoyiannis A, Samara C (2004) Persistent organic pollutants (POPS) in the sewage treatment plant of Thessaloniki, northern Greece: occurrence and removal. Water Res 38:2685–2698
Kim S, Eichhorn P, Jensen JN, Weber AS, Aga DS (2005) Removal of antibiotics in wastewater: effect of hydraulic and solid retention times on the fate of tetracycline in the activated sludge process. Environ Sci Technol 39:5816–5823
Kummerer K (2009) Antibiotics in the aquatic environment—a review—part I. Chemosphere 75:417–434
Kuster M, López de Alda MJ, Hernando MD, Petrovic M, Martín-Alonso J, Barceló D (2008) Analysis and occurrence of pharmaceuticals, estrogens, progestogens and polar pesticides in sewage treatment plant effluents, river water and drinking water in the Llobregat river basin (Barcelona, Spain). J Hydrol 358:112–123
Larsson DG, De Pedro C, Paxeus N (2007) Effluent from drug manufactures contains extremely high levels of pharmaceuticals. J Hazard Mater 148:751–5
Leung HW, Minh TB, Murphy MB, Lam JCW, So MK, Martin M, Lam PKS, Richardson BJ (2012) Distribution, fate and risk assessment of antibiotics in sewage treatment plants in Hong Kong, South China. Environ Int 42:1–9
Li B, Zhang T (2010) Biodegradation and adsorption of antibiotics in the activated sludge process. Environ Sci Technol 44:3468–3473
Liu F, Ying GG, Tao R, Zhao J-L, Yang JF, Zhao LF (2009) Effects of six selected antibiotics on plant growth and soil microbial and enzymatic activities. Environ Pollut 157:1636–1642
Loftin KA, Adams CD, Meyer MT, Surampalli R (2008) Effects of ionic strength, temperature, and pH on degradation of selected antibiotics. J Environ Qual 37:378–386
Peng XZ, Wang ZD, Kuang WX, Tan JH, Li K (2006) A preliminary study on the occurrence and behavior of sulfonamides, ofloxacin and chloramphenicol antimicrobials in wastewaters of two sewage treatment plants in Guangzhou, China. Sci Total Environ 371:314–322
Pouliquen H, Delpepee R, Larhantec-Verdier M, Morvan ML, Le Bris H (2007) Comparative hydrolysis and photolysis of four antibacterial agents (oxytetracycline oxolinic acid, flumequine and florfenicol) in deionised water, freshwater and seawater under abiotic conditions. Aquaculture 262:23–28
Ryan CC, Tan DT, Arnold WA (2011) Direct and indirect photolysis of sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim in wastewater treatment plant effluent. Water Res 45:1280–1286
Sanderson H, Johnson DJ, Wilson CJ, Brain RA, Solomon KR (2003) Probabilistic hazard assessment of environmentally occurring pharmaceuticals toxicity to fish, daphnids and algae by ECOSAR screening. Toxicol Lett 144:383–395
Tang J, Shi T, Wu X, Cao H, Li X, Hua R, Tang F, Yue Y (2015) The occurrence and distribution of antibiotics in Lake Chaohu, China: seasonal variation, potential source and risk assessment. Chemosphere 122:154–61
Tao R, Ying GG, Su HC, Zhou HW, Sidhu JPS (2010) Detection of antibiotic resistance and tetracycline resistance genes in Enterobacteriaceae isolated from the Pearl rivers in South China. Environ Pollut 158:2101–2109
Threedeach S, Chiemchaisri W, Watanabe T, Chiemchaisri C, Honda R, Yamamoto K (2012) Antibiotic resistance of Escherichia coli in leachates from municipal solid waste landfills: comparison between semi-aerobic and anaerobic operations. Bioresour Technol 113:253–8
Watkinson AJ, Murby EJ, Costanzo SD (2007) Removal of antibiotics in conventional and advanced wastewater treatment: implications for environmental discharge and wastewater recycling. Water Res 41:4164–4176
Watkinson AJ, Murby EJ, Kolpin DW, Costanzo SD (2009) The occurrence of antibiotics in an urban watershed: from wastewater to drinking water. Sci Total Environ 407:2711–2723
Wu M, Xiang J, Que C, Chen F, Xu G (2015) Occurrence and fate of psychiatric pharmaceuticals in the urban water system of Shanghai, China. Chemosphere 138:486–93
Xu BJ, Mao DQ, Luo Y, Xu L (2011) Sulfamethoxazole biodegradation and biotransformation in the water-sediment system of a natural river. Bioresource Technol 102:7069–7076
Xu WH, Zhang G, Li XD, Zou SC, Li P, Hu ZH, Li J (2007) Occurrence and elimination of antibiotics at four sewage treatment plants in the Pearl River Delta (PRD), South China. Water Res 41:4526–4534
Yan CX, Yang Y, Zhou JL, Liu M, Nie MH, Shi H, Gu LJ (2013) Antibiotics in the surface water of the Yangtze Estuary: occurrence, distribution and risk assessment. Environ Pollut 175:22–29
Yan Q, Gao X, Chen YP, Peng XY, Zhang YX, Gan XM, Zi CF, Guo JS (2014) Occurrence, fate and ecotoxicological assessment of pharmaceutically active compounds in wastewater and sludge from wastewater treatment plants in Chongqing, the Three Gorges Reservoir Area. Sci Total Environ 470:618–630
Yuan F, Hu C, Hu XX, Wei DB, Chen Y, Qu JH (2011) Photodegradation and toxicity changes of antibiotics in UV and UV/H2O2 process. J Hazard Mater 185:1256–1263
Yuan XJ, Qiang ZM, Ben WW, Zhu B, Qu JH (2015) Distribution, mass load and environmental impact of multiple-class pharmaceuticals in conventional and upgraded municipal wastewater treatment plants in East China. Environ Sci-Proc Imp 17:596–605
Zarfl C, Klasmeier J, Matthies M (2009) A conceptual model describing the fate of sulfadiazine and its metabolites observed in manure-amended soils. Chemosphere 77:720–6
Zhang H, Du M, Jiang H, Zhang D, Lin L, Ye H, Zhang X (2015) Occurrence, seasonal variation and removal efficiency of antibiotics and their metabolites in wastewater treatment plants, Jiulongjiang River Basin, South China. Environmental science Processes & impacts 17:225–34
Zhou LJ, Ying GG, Zhao JL, Yang JF, Wang L, Yang B, Liu S (2011) Trends in the occurrence of human and veterinary antibiotics in the sediments of the Yellow River, Hai River and Liao River in northern China. Environ Pollut 159:1877–1885
Zhou LJ, Ying GG, Liu S, Zhao JL, Yang B, Chen ZF, Lai HJ (2013) Occurrence and fate of eleven classes of antibiotics in two typical wastewater treatment plants in South China. Sci Total Environ 452:365–376
Zorita S, Martensson L, Mathiasson L (2009) Occurrence and removal of pharmaceuticals in a municipal sewage treatment system in the south of Sweden. Sci Total Environ 407:2760–2770
Acknowledgments
This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41430644, 41373098, 41273141, 41473089, 41473090) and by Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University No. IRT13078.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Additional information
Responsible editor: Roland Kallenborn
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
ESM 1
Supplementary Information for Distribution, fate and risk assessment of antibiotics in five wastewater treatment plants in Shanghai, China (DOCX 72 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wu, M., Que, C., Tang, L. et al. Distribution, fate, and risk assessment of antibiotics in five wastewater treatment plants in Shanghai, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 18055–18063 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6946-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6946-0