Research Group in Environmental Quality and Bioprocesses (GICAB), Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Textile, Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería UNI, Av. Túpac Amaru N° 210, Rímac, Lima, Peru.
Grupo de Investigación en Remediación Ambiental y Biocatálisis (GIRAB), Instituto de Química, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Antioquía UdeA, Calle 70 N° 52-21 Medellín, Colombia.
Environ Int. 2021 Oct;155:106674. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2021.106674. Epub 2021 Jun 23.
This is the first study dealing with removal of the pharmaceutical substances in municipal wastewater treatment plants (MWWTPs) from Peru and the impact of these compounds in surface waters receiving treated wastewater. To this aim, samples from MWWTP of Lima (Peruvian Coast), MWWTP of Cusco, Puno and Juliaca (Peruvian Highlands), as well surface water (confluence of Torococha and Coata rivers in Juliaca) were analyzed. A total of 38 target pharmaceuticals were included in this study and were determined by Liquid Chromatography coupled to tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Around 60% and 75% of the target pharmaceuticals could be quantified in surface water and MWWTPs, respectively. Acetaminophen was the drug found at the highest concentration, and it was present in all the treated wastewater samples reaching average values above 100 μg/L in the department of Puno. The gabapentin anti-epileptic drug (up to 11.85 μg/L in MWWTP Lima) and the antibiotics clarithromycin, trimethoprim, ciprofloxacin, sulfamethoxazole and azithromycin (1.86 to 4.47 μg/L in MWWTP Lima) were also found at moderate concentrations in the treated wastewater. In surface water, the highest concentration corresponded also to acetaminophen (28.70 μg/L) followed by sulfamethoxazole (4.36 μg/L). As regards the pharmaceuticals removal, data of this work showed that the MWWTP Cusco (aerobic biologic process by synthetic trickling filters as secondary treatment) was more efficient than the MWWTP Lima (a preliminary treatment that combines grilles, sand trap, degreaser-aerated and sieved of 1.0 mm). However, many pharmaceuticals (around 50% of the compounds investigated) presented concentrations in treated wastewater similar or even higher than in influent wastewater. The environmental ecological risk of pharmaceuticals was assessed based on calculated Risk Quotient (RQ) in the treated wastewater and surface water from the concentration data found in the samples. According to our data, three antibiotics (clarithromycin, ciprofloxacin, clindamycin) and the analgesic acetaminophen posed high environmental risk (RQ ≥ 1) on the aquatic environment. In the river, all antibiotics (except norfloxacin) as well as the analgesic-anti-inflammatory compounds acetaminophen, diclofenac posed a high environmental risk (RQ ≥ 1). Based on data reported in this work for the first time in water samples from Peru, it can be deduced that the treatment processes applied in important cities from Peru are not enough efficient to remove pharmaceuticals in wastewater. As a consequence, severe environmental risks associated to the presence of pharmaceuticals in treated wastewater and surface water are expected; so complementary treatment processes should be implemented in the MWWTPs for a more efficient elimination of these compounds.
这是第一项针对秘鲁城市污水处理厂（MWWTP）中药物去除及其对接收处理废水的地表水影响的研究。为此，分析了来自利马（秘鲁海岸）MWWTP、库斯科、普诺和胡利亚卡（秘鲁高地）MWWTP 以及地表水（胡利亚卡的托罗乔查和科阿塔河的交汇处）的样品。本研究共包括 38 种目标药物，并通过液相色谱-串联质谱法（LC-MS/MS）进行了测定。在地表水和 MWWTP 中，分别有 60%和 75%的目标药物可以定量。在所有处理过的废水中，发现最高浓度的药物是对乙酰氨基酚，其浓度均超过 100μg/L，在普诺地区的平均值更高。加巴喷丁抗癫痫药物（利马 MWWTP 中高达 11.85μg/L）和抗生素克拉霉素、甲氧苄啶、环丙沙星、磺胺甲恶唑和阿奇霉素（利马 MWWTP 中 1.86 至 4.47μg/L）在处理过的废水中也以中等浓度存在。在地表水中，最高浓度也对应于对乙酰氨基酚（28.70μg/L），其次是磺胺甲恶唑（4.36μg/L）。关于药物去除，本工作的数据表明，库斯科 MWWTP（作为二级处理的有氧生物工艺通过合成滴滤器）比利马 MWWTP（结合格栅、砂阱、充气和 1.0mm 筛网的初步处理）更有效。然而，许多药物（约 50%的研究化合物）在处理过的废水中的浓度与进水相似甚至更高。根据从样品中发现的浓度数据，基于计算出的风险商（RQ）评估了药物的环境生态风险。根据我们的数据，三种抗生素（克拉霉素、环丙沙星、克林霉素）和镇痛药对乙酰氨基酚对水生环境构成高环境风险（RQ≥1）。在河里，除了诺氟沙星之外的所有抗生素以及镇痛药-抗炎化合物对乙酰氨基酚、双氯芬酸都构成了高环境风险（RQ≥1）。根据这项工作首次在秘鲁水样中报告的数据，可以推断出秘鲁重要城市应用的处理工艺对于去除废水中的药物不够有效。因此，预计与处理过的废水中和地表水中存在药物相关的严重环境风险；因此，应在 MWWTP 中实施补充处理工艺，以更有效地消除这些化合物。
