title: Mass loading and removal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products including psychoactives, antihypertensives, and antibiotics in two sewage treatment plants in southern India.
abstract: Environmental contamination by pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) is barely studied in India despite being one of the largest global producers and consumers of pharmaceuticals. In this study, 29 pharmaceuticals and six metabolites were determined in sewage treatment plants (STPs) in Udupi (STPU: population served ∼150,000) and Mangalore (STPM: population served ∼450,000); the measured mean concentrations ranged from 12 to 61,000 ng/L and 5.0 to 31,000 ng/L, respectively. Atorvastatin (the most prescribed antihypercholesterolemic in India), mefenamic acid, and paraxanthine were found for the first time in wastewater in India at the mean concentrations of 395 ng/L, 1100 ng/L, and 13,000 ng/L, respectively. Select pharmaceutical metabolites (norverapamil and clopidogrel carboxylic acid) were found at concentrations of upto 7 times higher than their parent drugs in wastewater influent and effluent. This is the first study in India to report mass loading and emission of PPCPs and their select metabolites in STPs. The total mass load of all PPCPs analyzed in this study at STPU(4.97 g/d/1000 inhabitants) was 3.6 times higher than calculated for STPM. Select recalcitrant PPCPs (carbamazepine, diazepam, and clopidogrel) were found to have negative or no removal from STPUwhile additional treatment with upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor at STPMremoved (up to 95%) these PPCPs from STPM. Overall, 5.1 kg of caffeine, 4.1 kg of atenolol, 2.7 kg of ibuprofen, and 1.9 kg of triclocarban were discharged annually from STPU. The PPCP contamination profile in the Indian STP was compared with a similar study in the USA.
authors.affiliation: 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, New York, NY 12201-0509, USA; Department of Chemistry, Murray State University, 1201 Jesse D Jones Hall, Murray, KY 42071, USA.
authors.forename: Bikram
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Subedi
authors.affiliation: 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, New York, NY 12201-0509, USA; Department of Civil Engineering, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal University, Manipal, 576 104, India. Electronic address: k.balakrishna@manipal.edu.
authors.forename: Keshava
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Balakrishna
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil Engineering, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal University, Manipal, 576 104, India.
authors.forename: Derrick Ian
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Joshua
authors.affiliation: 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, New York, NY 12201-0509, USA; 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.forename: Kurunthachalam
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kannan
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000032:analysis; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000032:analysis; D002224:Carbanilides; D003358:Cosmetics; D007194:India; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000032:analysis*; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000032:analysis; D012722:Sewage; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents; D002224:Carbanilides; D003358:Cosmetics; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs; D012722:Sewage; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C009540:triclocarban
keywords: Fate; India; Metabolites; Personal care products; Pharmaceuticals; Removal efficiency; Sewage treatment plant; Sludge; Wastewater