title: Characterization of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care products in hospital effluent and waste water influent/effluent by direct-injection LC-MS-MS.
abstract: Two USEPA Regional Laboratories developed direct-injection LC/MS/MS methods to measure Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) in water matrices. Combined, the laboratories were prepared to analyze 185 PPCPs (with 74 overlapping) belonging to more than 20 therapeutical categories with reporting limits at low part-per-trillion. In partnership with Suffolk County in NY, the laboratories conducted PPCP analysis on 72 samples belonging to 4 Water Systems (WS). Samples were collected at different stages of the WS (hospital effluents, WWTP influents/effluents) to assess PPCP relevance in hospital discharges, impact on WWTP performance and potential ecological risk posed by analytes not eliminated during treatment. Major findings include: a) acceptable accuracy between the two laboratories for most overlapping PPCPs with better agreement for higher concentrations; b) the measurement of PPCPs throughout all investigated WS with total PPCP concentrations ranging between 324 and 965 μg L(-1) for hospital effluent, 259 and 573 μg L(-1) for WWTP influent and 19 and 118 μg L(-1) for WWTP effluent; c) the variable contribution of hospital effluents to the PPCP loads into the WWTP influents (contribution ranging between 1% (WS-2) and 59% (WS-3); d) the PPCP load reduction after treatment for all WS reaching more than 95% for WS using activated sludge processes (WS-2 and WS-4), with inflow above 6500 m(3) d(-1), and having a lower percentage of hospital effluent in the WWTP influent; e) the relevance of four therapeutical categories for the PPCP load in WWTP effluents (analgesics, antidiabetics, antiepileptics and psychoanaleptics); and f) the risk quotients calculated using screening-level Predicted Non Effect Concentration indicate that WWTP effluents contain 33 PPCPs with potential medium to high ecological risk. To our knowledge no other monitoring investigation published in the scientific literature uses direct-injection methods to cover as many PPCPs and therapeutical categories in different types of WS.
authors.affiliation: United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2, Division of Environmental Science and Assessment Laboratory, 2890 Woodbridge Avenue, Edison, NJ 08837, USA. Electronic address: tiagoliveira.phd@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Tiago S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8 Laboratory, 16194 W 45th Drive, Golden, CO 80403, USA.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.affiliation: United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2, Division of Environmental Science and Assessment Laboratory, 2890 Woodbridge Avenue, Edison, NJ 08837, USA.
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mendola
authors.affiliation: United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2, Division of Enforcement & Compliance Assistance, 290 Broadway, New York, NY 10007, USA.
authors.forename: Virginia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.affiliation: Suffolk County Government, Department of Health Services, 3500 Sunrise Highway, Suite 124 P.O. Box 9006, Great River, NY 11739, USA.
authors.forename: Doreen
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Carlson
authors.affiliation: Suffolk County Government, Department of Health Services, 3500 Sunrise Highway, Suite 124 P.O. Box 9006, Great River, NY 11739, USA.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Waring
mesh_terms: D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D003358:Cosmetics / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006761:Hospitals; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000032:analysis*; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D003358:Cosmetics; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Direct injection; Hospital contribution; LC-MS-MS; PPCPs; Risk assessment; Water systems