title: Occurrence and fate of select psychoactive pharmaceuticals and antihypertensives in two wastewater treatment plants in New York State, USA.
abstract: The fates of psychoactive pharmaceuticals, including two antischizophrenics, six sedative-hypnotic-anxiolytics, four antidepressants, four antihypertensives, and their select metabolites, were determined in two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in the Albany area of New York. All target psychoactive pharmaceuticals and their metabolites were found at a mean concentration that ranged from 0.98 (quetiapine) to 1220 ng/L (atenolol) in wastewater and from 0.26 (lorazepam) to 1490 ng/g dry weight (sertraline) in sludge. In this study, the fraction of psychoactive pharmaceuticals that was sorbed to suspended particulate matter (SPM) was calculated for the first time. Over 50% of the total mass of aripiprazole, norquetiapine, norsertraline, citalopram, desmethyl citalopram, propranolol, verapamil, and norverapamil was found sorbed to SPM in the influent. The mass loadings, i.e., influx, of target psychoactive pharmaceuticals in WWTPs ranged from 0.91 (diazepam) to 347 mg/d/1000 inhabitants (atenolol), whereas the environmental emissions ranged from 0.01 (dehydro-aripiprazole) to 316 mg/d/1000 inhabitants (atenolol). The highest calculated removal efficiencies were found for antischizophrenics (quetiapine=88%; aripiprazole=71%). However, the removal of some psychoactive pharmaceuticals through adsorption onto sludge was minimal (<1% of the initial mass load), which suggests that bio-degradation and/or chemical-transformation are the dominant mechanisms of removal of these pharmaceuticals in WWTPs.
authors: Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, and Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, State University of New York at Albany, Empire State Plaza, P.O. Box 509, Albany, NY 12201-0509, United States.
authors: Bikram
authors: B
authors: Subedi
authors: Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, and Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, State University of New York at Albany, Empire State Plaza, P.O. Box 509, Albany, NY 12201-0509, United States; Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Science and Experimental Biochemistry Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: kurunthachalam.kannan@health.ny.gov.
authors: Kurunthachalam
authors: K
authors: Kannan
mesh_terms: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D009518:New York; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000032:analysis*; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Fate; Metabolites; Pharmaceuticals; Psychoactives; Removal efficiency; Sludge; Suspended particulate matter; Wastewater treatment plant