title: Simulation of the fate of selected pharmaceuticals and personal care products in a highly impacted reach of a Canadian watershed.
abstract: Municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) dispose of numerous trace organic contaminants in the receiving waters that can impact biological function in aquatic organisms. However, the complex nature of WWTP effluent mixtures and a wide variety of potential mechanisms that can alter physiological and reproductive development of aquatic organisms make it difficult to assess the linkages and severity of the effects associated with trace organic contaminants. This paper describes a surface water quality modeling exercise that was performed to understand the relevant contaminant fate and transport processes necessary to accurately predict the concentrations of trace organic compounds present in the aquatic environment. The target compounds modeled include a known antiandrogenic personal care product (triclosan) and selected pharmaceuticals (venlafaxine, naproxen, and carbamazepine). The WASP 7.5 model was adapted and calibrated to reflect approximately ten kilometers of reach of the Grand River watershed that is highly influenced by a major urban WWTP. Simulation of the fate and transport of the target compounds revealed that flow-driven transport processes (advection and dispersion) greatly influenced the behavior of the target contaminants in the aquatic environment. However, fate mechanisms such as photolysis and biodegradation can play an important role in the attenuation of some compounds. The exception was carbamazepine where it was shown to act as a conservative tracer compound for wastewater specific contaminants in the water phase. The calibrated water quality model can now be employed in a number of future applications. Prediction of fate and transport of other trace organic contaminants across the watershed and assessment of the performance of WWTP infrastructure upgrades in the removal of these compounds are just a few examples.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada; Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Arlos
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada.
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Bragg
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada.
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Servos
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada. Electronic address: wjparker@uwaterloo.ca.
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Parker
mesh_terms: D002170:Canada; D003358:Cosmetics / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D008956:Models, Chemical; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000032:analysis*; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D003358:Cosmetics; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Antiandrogens; Endocrine disruption; Pharmaceuticals; Sewage; Wastewater treatment; Water quality model