Sources of pharmaceutical pollution in the New York City Watershed.
An investigation was carried out in the New York City Watershed for the presence of selected pharmaceuticals. In four seasonal sampling events between August 2003 and May 2004, surface water was collected from eight reservoir keypoints and effluent was collected from four wastewater treatment plants. We evaluated the following twelve compounds: amoxicillin, atenolol, caffeine, carbamazepine, cephalexin, estrone, 17alpha-ethinylestradiol, 17beta-estradiol, ibuprofen, sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, and valproic acid. In the treated effluents, carbamazepine was detected most frequently (100%; concentration range: 22-551 ng/L), followed by atenolol (94%; ND - 14,200 ng/L), trimethoprim (83%; ND - 37,000 ng/L), ibuprofen (61%; ND - 14,600 ng/L), and caffeine (49%; ND - 37,200 ng/L), while estrone was detected once (56 ng/L). In the reservoir keypoint samples, only ibuprofen (2.5%; ND - 932 ng/L) and caffeine (2.9%; ND - 177 ng/L) were detected. The other analytes were not detected in any sample. It is expected that investigation of other wastewater treatment plants in the New York City Watershed would show that their effluents are also a potential source of pharmaceuticals, but that these pharmaceuticals are unlikely to be detected in the Watershed's surface waters.
Palmer
Patrick M
PM
Bureau of Water Supply Protection, Center for Environmental Health, New York State Department of Health, Troy, NY 12180-2216, USA.
Wilson
Lloyd R
LR
O'Keefe
Patrick
P
Sheridan
Robert
R
King
Thomas
T
Chen
Chia-Yang
CY
D003691:Delaware; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D009519:New York City; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000032:analysis*; D012621:Seasons; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D014876:Water Pollution / Q000032:analysis; D014881:Water Supply / Q000032:analysis*
D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical