Pharmaceutical Residues in Wastewater Treatment Plants and Surface Waters in Bangkok
Publication: Journal of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste
Volume 16, Issue 1
Abstract
Pharmaceutical residues are increasingly found in wastewater treatment plant effluents and river water in very low concentrations at nanograms per liter levels in many countries. In this study, samples were collected from seven wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and downstream surface waters in Bangkok, Thailand during July and October 2009 and January 2010. Solid phase extraction (SPE) followed by high-pressure liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS/MS) technique were used to detect eight pharmaceuticals including caffeine, acetaminophen, roxithromycin, ciprofloxacin, trimethoprim, lincomycin, enrofloxacin, and erythromycin. Levels of pharmaceutical residues in the influents on average were the highest for caffeine ( ), followed by acetaminophen ( ), and roxithromycin ( ). The same three pharmaceuticals showed the top three levels in the effluents (caffeine: , acetaminophen: , and roxithromycin: ). The concentration of caffeine was also the highest in downstream surface water samples ( ). Acetaminophen ( ) and roxithromycin ( ) were at the second and third highest levels. Caffeine and acetaminophen in WWTP effluents were at very low levels compared with the influent concentrations.
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Acknowledgments
This study was supported by research funding from the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol Univ., Thailand; Dept. of Environmental Toxicology, School of Public Health, Seoul National Univ., and School of Human and Environmental Science, Eulji Univ., Republic of Korea.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste
Volume 16 • Issue 1 • January 2012
Pages: 88 - 91
Copyright
© 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 1, 2010
Accepted: Dec 23, 2010
Published online: Dec 27, 2010
Published in print: Jan 1, 2012
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