title: Occurrence and environmental implications of pharmaceuticals in Chinese municipal sewage sludge.
abstract: The presence of pharmaceuticals in aquatic environment has become a topic of concern because of their potential adverse effects on human health and wildlife species. A total of 45 dewatered sewage sludge samples were collected throughout China and analyzed for 30 commonly consumed pharmaceutical residues. Ofloxacin was found to be the dominant contaminant with concentrations up to 24760 μg kg(-1), followed by oxytetracycline (5280 μg kg(-1)), norfloxacin (5280 μg kg(-1)) and ketoprofen (4458 μg kg(-1)). The concentration of pharmaceutical residues varied greatly depending on the operation conditions of wastewater treatment plants and sampling locations. Poor agreement was found between the predicted (calculation based on the annual consumption and coefficient of sludge water partition) and detected concentrations of the pharmaceuticals indicating that the occurrence of pharmaceutical residues was affected by various factors such as loading rates, sewage properties and the chemical properties such as the contribution from polar groups. National wide fate and ecotoxicity study is required for the development of control strategies.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, PR China; School of Environment, THU-VEOLIA Joint Research Center for Advanced Environmental Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China. Electronic address: yschen@iue.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Yongshan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Qiming
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Haibo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Qiaoying
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Youwei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hong
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006801:Humans; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000032:analysis*; D012722:Sewage / Q000737:chemistry*; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D012722:Sewage; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Environmental implications; Occurrence; Pharmaceuticals; Sewage sludge