title: Investigation of antibiotics in health care wastewater in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
abstract: Hospital wastewater contains huge amounts of hazardous pollutants which are being discharged daily to environment with or without treatment. Antibiotics were among the important group of pharmaceuticals considered as a potential source of health risk for human and other living creatures. Although the investigations about the existence of antibiotics in hospital wastewater have gained concern for researchers in many countries, there is only one research conducted in Hanoi-Vietnam. Hence, in this study, investigations have been done to fulfill the requirement of real situation in Vietnam by accomplishing survey for 39 health care facilities in Ho Chi Minh City. As results, seven popular antibiotics were detected to exist in all samples such as sulfamethoxazole (2.5 ± 1.9 μg/L), norfloxacin (9.6 ± 9.8 μg/L), ciprofloxacin (5.3 ± 4.8 μg/L), ofloxacin (10.9 ± 8.1 μg/L), erythromycin (1.2 ± 1.2 μg/L), tetracycline (0.1 ± 0.0 μg/L), and trimethoprim (1.0 ± 0.9 μg/L). On the other hand, survey also showed that only 64% of health care facilities using conventional activate sludge (AS) processes in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). As a consequence, basic environmental factors (BOD5, COD, TSS, NH4+-N, or total coliforms) were not effectively removed from the hospital wastewater due to problems relating to initial design or operational conditions. Therefore, 18% effluent samples of the surveyed WWTPs have exceeded the national standard limits (QCVN 28:2010, level B).
authors.affiliation: Environmental Engineering and Management Research Group, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.|Faculty of Environment and Labour Safety, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Thi-Dieu-Hien
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Vo
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Technology, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. bxthanh@hcmut.edu.vn.|Faculty of Food and Environment, Dong Nai Technology University, Dong Nai, Vietnam. bxthanh@hcmut.edu.vn.
authors.forename: Xuan-Thanh
authors.initials: XT
authors.lastname: Bui
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Technology, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.|Institute of Research and Development, Duy Tan University, Da Nang, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Ngoc-Dan-Thanh
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Technology, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.|Institute of Research and Development, Duy Tan University, Da Nang, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Vinh-Phuc
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Luu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Research and Development, Duy Tan University, Da Nang, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Thanh-Tin
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Research and Development, Duy Tan University, Da Nang, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Bao-Trong
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Dang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Research and Development, Duy Tan University, Da Nang, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Minh-Quan
authors.initials: MQ
authors.lastname: Thai
authors.affiliation: Institute of Research and Development, Duy Tan University, Da Nang, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Dinh-Duc
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: Environmental Engineering and Management Research Group, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Thanh-Son
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Technology, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Quoc-Tuc
authors.initials: QT
authors.lastname: Dinh
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Technology, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Thanh-Son
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Dao
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000032:analysis*; D002947:Cities; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D006761:Hospitals; D014744:Vietnam; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*; D062065:Wastewater / Q000032:analysis*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Antibiotics; Ho Chi Minh City; Hospital; Wastewater