School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, United States; New York State Center for Clean Water Technology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, United States.
New York State Center for Clean Water Technology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, United States.
Water Res. 2021 Nov 1;206:117743. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2021.117743. Epub 2021 Oct 8.
The presence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in the environment is primarily the result of discharge of waste, including from onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTSs) which are employed by 25% of homes in the United States. However, the occurrence and removal of PPCPs in OWTSs is not well understood, particularly given the large diversity in PPCP compounds as well as in OWTS designs. In this study, we monitored 26 different PPCPs in 13 full-scale nitrogen removing biofilters (NRBs), an innovative/alternative type of OWTS that utilizes an overlying sand layer and an underlying woodchip/sand layer to simultaneously remove nitrogen and other wastewater-derived contaminants. The specific objectives of this study were (i) to measure the occurrence of PPCPs in septic tank effluent (STE) that served as an influent to NRBs, (ii) to quantify PPCP removal in three types of NRB configurations (n = 13), and (iii) to evaluate PPCP removal with depth and environmental conditions in NRBs. Aqueous samples were taken during 42 separate sampling events during 2016 - 2019 and analyzed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Analysis of the STE samples yielded detection of 23 of the 26 PPCPs, with caffeine being the most abundant and frequently detected compound at 52,000 ng/L (range: 190 - 181,000 ng/L), followed by acetaminophen and paraxanthine at 47,500 ng/L (190 - 160,000 ng/L), and 34,300 ng/L (430 - 210,000 ng/L), respectively. Cimetidine, fenofibrate, and warfarin were the only compounds not detected. The average removal of PPCPs by NRBs ranged from 58% to >99% for the various compounds. PPCP removal as a function of depth in the systems showed that 50 to >99% of the observed removal was achieved within the top oxic layer (0 - 46 cm) of the NRBs for 19 analytes. Seven of the compounds had >85% removal by the same depth. These results indicate that NRBs are effective at removing PPCPs and that a large portion of the removal is achieved within the oxic nitrifying layer of the NRBs. Overall, the removal of PPCPs in NRBs was comparable (n = 8) or better (n = 15) than that observed for conventional wastewater treatment plants.
环境中存在的药品和个人护理产品（PPCPs）主要是废物排放的结果，包括美国 25%的家庭使用的现场废水处理系统（OWTS）排放的废物。然而，OWTS 中 PPCPs 的出现和去除情况并不清楚，特别是考虑到 PPCP 化合物以及 OWTS 设计的多样性。在这项研究中，我们监测了 13 个全规模氮去除生物滤池（NRB）中的 26 种不同的 PPCPs，NRB 是一种创新/替代类型的 OWTS，利用上层砂层和下层木屑/砂层同时去除氮和其他废水衍生的污染物。这项研究的具体目标是：（i）测量作为 NRB 进水的化粪池出水（STE）中 PPCPs 的存在情况，（ii）量化三种 NRB 配置（n=13）中的 PPCP 去除情况，以及（iii）评估 NRB 中 PPCP 的去除情况和环境条件随深度的变化。在 2016 年至 2019 年期间的 42 次单独采样事件中采集了水样，并通过液相色谱串联质谱法进行了分析。对 STE 样品的分析结果表明，26 种 PPCPs 中有 23 种被检出，其中咖啡因是最丰富和最常被检出的化合物，浓度为 52000ng/L（范围：190-181000ng/L），其次是对乙酰氨基酚和茶碱，浓度分别为 47500ng/L（190-160000ng/L）和 34300ng/L（430-210000ng/L）。西咪替丁、非诺贝特和华法林是唯一未检出的化合物。NRB 对各种化合物的 PPCP 去除率平均为 58%至>99%。系统中 PPCP 去除与深度的关系表明，对于 19 种分析物中的 19 种，在 NRB 的好氧层（0-46cm）中实现了 50%至>99%的观察去除。有 7 种化合物的去除率超过 85%。这些结果表明，NRB 能有效去除 PPCPs，并且大部分去除是在 NRB 的好氧硝化层中实现的。总的来说，NRB 对 PPCPs 的去除效果与传统污水处理厂相当（n=8）或更好（n=15）。
