Occurrence of pharmaceutical compounds in wastewater process streams in Dublin, Ireland

The aim of this work is to establish baseline levels of pharmaceuticals in three wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) streams in the greater Dublin region to assess the removal efficiency of the selected WWTPs and to investigate the existence of any seasonal variability. Twenty compounds including several classes of antibiotics, acidic and basic pharmaceuticals, and prescribed medications were selected for investigation using a combination of membrane filtration, solid phase extraction (SPE) cleanup, and liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. Fourteen of the selected compounds were found in the samples. Increased effluent concentrations, compared to influent concentrations, for a number of compounds (carbamazepine, clotrimazole, propranolol, nimesulide, furosemide, mefenamic acid, diclofenac, metoprolol, and gemfibrozil) were observed. The detected concentrations were generally below toxicity levels and based on current knowledge are unlikely to pose any threat to aquatic species. Mefenamic acid concentrations detected in both Leixlip and Swords effluents may potentially exert ecotoxicological effects with maximum risk quotients (i.e., ratio of predicted exposure concentration to predicted no effect concentration) of 4.04 and 1.33, respectively.