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Removal of pharmaceutical residues in a pilot wastewater treatment plant

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Abstract

Concern is growing over the contamination of the environment with pharmaceutical residues, among which non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are one of the most abundant groups. Their widespread appearance in the aquatic environment is because of their high consumption and their incomplete removal during wastewater treatment. Because effective operation of wastewater-treatment plants is important for minimising the release of xenobiotic compounds, for example pharmaceutical products, into the aquatic environment, our study focuses on removal of commonly used NSAIDs (ibuprofen, naproxen, ketoprofen, diclofenac) and clofibric acid in a specially designed small-scale pilot wastewater treatment plant (PWWTP). This study shows that, except for diclofenac, steady-rate removal of NSAIDs over a two-year monitoring period has been achieved. Elimination of the compounds in the PWWTP was ≥87% for ibuprofen, naproxen and ketoprofen but only 49–59% for diclofenac. We also studied clofibric acid. Results after one month of operation revealed 30% elimination with no sign of adaptation by the biomass. Also described are degradation products of diclofenac, which we were able to identify because of the similarity of their mass spectra with those in the NIST library and by comparing the retention times of different compounds. Although the structures of these compounds were confirmed with a high probability (99%), we still need to compare the fragmentation of authentic compounds with degradation products formed under our experimental conditions. Degradation products of ibuprofen, naproxen, ketoprofen, and clofibric acid were found but these must be identified by use of high-resolution mass spectrometry and analysis of authentic compounds.

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Acknowledgements

Financial support of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology and EU Structural Funds for supporting the Centre of Excellence Environmental Technologies (Contract No.: 3211-05-000184), Slovenian Research Agency (Program group P1-0143 and Project L1-6552), Lek, a Sandoz Company (Ljubljana, Slovenia), Central Wastewater Treatment Plant Domžale-kamnik (Domžale, Slovenia) and Wastewater Treatment Plant Ptuj, (Ptuj, Slovenia) are acknowledged. The authors are grateful to Mrs. Silva Perteo and Dr, Dušan Žigon for their helpful advices and technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Haslauer d.o.o., Zabukovica 87, 3302 Griže, Slovenia

    Tina Kosjek

  2. Department of Environmental Sciences, Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Tina Kosjek & Ester Heath

  3. Institute of Sanitary Engineering, Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Hajdrihova 28, 1001, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Tina Kosjek & Boris Kompare

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  1. Tina Kosjek
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  2. Ester Heath
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  3. Boris Kompare
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Correspondence to Ester Heath.

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Kosjek, T., Heath, E. & Kompare, B. Removal of pharmaceutical residues in a pilot wastewater treatment plant. Anal Bioanal Chem 387, 1379–1387 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-006-0969-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-006-0969-1

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