title: Selected pharmaceuticals entering an estuary: Concentrations, temporal trends, partitioning, and fluxes.
abstract: In many coastal watersheds and ecosystems, rivers discharging to estuaries receive waters from domestic wastewater-treatment plants resulting in the release and distribution of pharmaceuticals to the marine environment. In the present study, 15 active pharmaceutical ingredients were measured regularly over 1 yr in the dissolved and particulate phases as they entered Narragansett Bay from the Pawtuxet River in Cranston (Rhode Island, USA). Of the active pharmaceutical ingredients measured, 14 were consistently present in the dissolved phase, with concentrations ranging from below detection to >310 ng/L, whereas 8 were present in the particulate phase (0.2-18 ng/g). Partition coefficients (Kds and KOCs) were determined, and organic carbon normalization reduced variability associated with Kds for the active pharmaceutical ingredients evaluated. Flux estimates based on river flow were calculated for both dissolved and particulate-phase active pharmaceutical ingredients, with particulate fluxes being low (1-12 g/yr) and dissolved fluxes of active pharmaceutical ingredients being 155 g/yr to 11 600 g/yr. Results indicate that the pharmaceuticals measured in the present study reside primarily in the dissolved phase and thus are likely bioavailable on entering the estuarine waters of Narragansett Bay. This long-term temporal study provides important information on seasonal and annual dynamics of pharmaceuticals in an urban estuarine watershed. Environ Toxicol Chem 2016;35:2665-2673. Published 2016 Wiley Periodicals Inc. on behalf of SETAC. This article is a US Government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the United States of America.
authors.affiliation: Office of Research and Development, US Environmental Protection Agency, Narragansett, Rhode Island, USA. Cantwell.mark@epa.gov.
authors.forename: Mark G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Cantwell
authors.affiliation: Office of Research and Development, US Environmental Protection Agency, Narragansett, Rhode Island, USA.
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Katz
authors.affiliation: Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, Narragansett, Rhode Island, USA.
authors.forename: Julia C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.affiliation: Office of Research and Development, US Environmental Protection Agency, Narragansett, Rhode Island, USA.
authors.forename: Kay
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.affiliation: Office of Research and Development, US Environmental Protection Agency, Narragansett, Rhode Island, USA.
authors.forename: Robert M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Burgess
authors.affiliation: Department of Geosciences, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island, USA.
authors.forename: Michaela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cashman
mesh_terms: D052918:Environmental Restoration and Remediation / Q000639:trends; D063366:Estuaries; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry; D007700:Kinetics; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000032:analysis* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry*; D012722:Sewage / Q000737:chemistry; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization; D064091:Waste Disposal Facilities; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D012722:Sewage; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Contaminant; Environmental partitioning; Estuarine; Pharmaceutical; Wastewater