Liu YingYing, Blowes David W, Groza Laura, Sabourin Michelle J, Ptacek Carol J
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1.
Environ Sci Process Impacts. 2014 Dec;16(12):2789-95. doi: 10.1039/c4em00237g.
Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents are important sources of emerging contaminants at environmentally-relevant concentrations. In this study, water samples were collected from a river downstream of two WWTPs to identify practical tracers for tracking wastewater. The results of the study indicate elevated concentrations of Cl(-), nutrients (NH3-N and NO2(-)), the artificial sweetener acesulfame-K (ACE-K), and the pharmaceuticals carbamazepine (CBZ), caffeine (CAF), sulfamethoxazole (SMX), ibuprofen (IBU), gemfibrozil (GEM), and naproxen (NAP) in the river close to the WWTPs that decreased with distance downstream. A correlation analysis using the Spearman Rank method showed that ACE-K, CBZ, GEM, NAP, and Cl(-) were strongly correlated with each other over a 31 km stretch of the river in the study area. The strong correlations of these target compounds indicate that the artificial sweetener ACE-K and the pharmaceuticals CBZ, GEM, and NAP can potentially be used as co-tracers to track wastewater.
污水处理厂（WWTP）排放的废水是环境相关浓度下新兴污染物的重要来源。在本研究中，从两座污水处理厂下游的一条河流采集水样，以确定追踪废水的实用示踪剂。研究结果表明，靠近污水处理厂的河流中，Cl(-)、营养物质（NH3-N和NO2(-)）、人工甜味剂安赛蜜-K（ACE-K）以及药物卡马西平（CBZ）、咖啡因（CAF）、磺胺甲恶唑（SMX）、布洛芬（IBU）、吉非罗齐（GEM）和萘普生（NAP）的浓度升高，且随着下游距离的增加而降低。使用Spearman秩方法进行的相关性分析表明，在研究区域内长达31公里的河段上，ACE-K、CBZ、GEM、NAP和Cl(-)之间相互高度相关。这些目标化合物之间的强相关性表明，人工甜味剂ACE-K以及药物CBZ、GEM和NAP有可能用作共同示踪剂来追踪废水。
