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Marine pollution, ecotoxicology and sustainability
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Occurrence and Removal Efficiency of Selected Psychiatric Pharmaceuticals in Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) of Hong Kong: A Preliminary Study
P-E1-15-S
Mr. Rongben WU* , State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong
Dr. Yuefei RUAN, State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong
Prof. Paul K. S. LAM, State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong
Presenter Email: rongbenwu2-c@my.cityu.edu.hk |
Pharmaceuticals, regarded as emerging contaminants, have been ubiquitously detected in various environmental compartments. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are considered to be the one of the main sources of pharmaceutical residues in the environment. They were introduced into the receiving waters because of incomplete removal in the WWTPs. Wastewaters are discharged on a continuous basis, making pharmaceuticals environmentally pseudo-persistent? Among them, special attention has been paid to psychiatric pharmaceuticals due to their high prescription rates, widespread environmental occurrence and neuro-endocrinal toxicity on non-target organisms, as well as their high potential for bioaccumulation. In the present study, a SPE-HPLC-MS/MS method has been developed to investigate the occurrence of 9 selected psychiatric pharmaceuticals in WWTPs of Hong Kong, including 2 antipsychotics, 1 anxiolytics and 6 antidepressants. Four WWTPs with different discharging points, which serve over half of the total Hong Kong population, have been included for this investigation. Different treatment technologies are employed in the selected WWTPs, including chemically-enhanced primary treatment and secondary (biological) treatment with traditional activated sludge. In this preliminary study, antidepressants and anxiolytics were detected at parts-per-trillion level. Our results indicate that most of the target psychiatric pharmaceuticals could not be completely removed after wastewater treatment.
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