title: New insights into the transformation of trimethoprim during biological wastewater treatment.
abstract: The antibiotic trimethoprim (TMP), a micropollutant found at μg/L levels in raw wastewater, was investigated with regard to its (bio)transformation during biological wastewater treatment. A pilot-scale, nitrifying/denitrifying Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) fed with municipal wastewater was monitored for TMP removal during a 16-month monitoring study. Laboratory-scaled bioreactors spiked with TMP were applied to identify the transformation products (TPs). In total, six TPs could be identified from TMP. However, the TP formation was influenced by the spike concentration. At an initial concentration of 500 μg/L TMP, only two TPs were found, whereas at 5 μg/L a completely different transformation pathway led to four further TPs. At low concentrations, TMP was demethylated forming 4-desmethyl-TMP, which was then quickly hydroxylated, oxidized and cleaved forming 2,4-diaminopyrimidine-5-carboxylic acid (DAPC) via two intermediate TPs. DAPC was detected in the SBR effluent in a 3-d composite sample with 61 ng/L, which accounts for 52% of the attenuated TMP. The primary degradation at low spiking levels was best modelled by a pseudo-first order kinetic. Considering the SBR, the model predicted a TMP removal of 88-94% for the reactor, consistent with a monitoring campaign exhibiting an average removal of >83%. Both the TP formation profiles and kinetic modelling indicated that only the results from the bioreactor tests at low spike concentrations were representative of the transformation in the SBR.
authors.affiliation: Federal Institute of Hydrology, Am Mainzer Tor 1, 56068 Koblenz, Germany.
authors.forename: Kevin S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Jewell
authors.affiliation: Federal Institute of Hydrology, Am Mainzer Tor 1, 56068 Koblenz, Germany.
authors.forename: Sandro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Castronovo
authors.affiliation: Federal Institute of Hydrology, Am Mainzer Tor 1, 56068 Koblenz, Germany.
authors.forename: Arne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wick
authors.affiliation: Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Per
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Falås
authors.affiliation: Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Adriano
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Joss
authors.affiliation: Federal Institute of Hydrology, Am Mainzer Tor 1, 56068 Koblenz, Germany. Electronic address: ternes@bafg.de.
authors.forename: Thomas A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Ternes
mesh_terms: D000332:Aerobiosis; D000892:Anti-Infective Agents, Urinary / Q000378:metabolism; D000962:Antimalarials / Q000378:metabolism; D019149:Bioreactors; D007700:Kinetics; D012621:Seasons; D014295:Trimethoprim / Q000378:metabolism*; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid; D062065:Wastewater / Q000032:analysis*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000892:Anti-Infective Agents, Urinary; D000962:Antimalarials; D014295:Trimethoprim; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Activated sludge; Degradation; Micropollutants; Transformation products; Trimethoprim; Wastewater