Journal
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
Volume 490, Issue -, Pages 342-350Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.04.082
Keywords
Pharmaceuticals; Multimedia fate model; Freshwater ecotoxicity; Ionisable organics; Uncertainty analysis; Wastewater treatment plants
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Funding
- FCT-Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia [SFRH/BD/64599/2009]
- Foundation of Science and Technology (FCT) of the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education (MCTES) [PTDC/AAG-TEC/2692/2012]
- Ecotech Sudoe project [SOE2/P1/E377]
- Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia [SFRH/BD/64599/2009, PTDC/AAG-TEC/2692/2012] Funding Source: FCT
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In this study, the concentration probability distributions of 82 pharmaceutical compounds detected in the effluents of 179 European wastewater treatment plants were computed and inserted into a multimedia fate model. The comparative ecotoxicological impact of the direct emission of these compounds from wastewater treatment plants on freshwater ecosystems, based on a potentially affected fraction (PAF) of species approach, was assessed to rank compounds based on priority. As many pharmaceuticals are acids or bases, the multimedia fate model accounts for regressions to estimate pH-dependent fate parameters. An uncertainty analysis was performed by means of Monte Carlo analysis, which included the uncertainty of fate and ecotoxicity model input variables, as well as the spatial variability of landscape characteristics on the European continental scale. Several pharmaceutical compounds were identified as being of greatest concern, including 7 analgesics/anti-inflammatories, 3 beta-blockers, 3 psychiatric drugs, and 1 each of 6 other therapeutic classes. The fate and impact modelling relied extensively on estimated data, given that most of these compounds have little or no experimental fate or ecotoxicity data available, as well as a limited reported occurrence in effluents. The contribution of estimated model input variables to the variance of freshwater ecotoxicity impact, aswell as the lack of experimental abiotic degradation data for most compounds, helped in establishing priorities for further testing. Generally, the effluent concentration and the ecotoxicity effect factor were the model input variables with the most significant effect on the uncertainty of output results. (C) 2014 Published by Elsevier B. V.
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