title: Spatial distribution and removal performance of pharmaceuticals in municipal wastewater treatment plants in China.
abstract: Municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are an important source of pharmaceuticals released into the environment. Understanding how various pharmaceuticals are distributed and handled in WWTPs is a prerequisite to optimize their abatement. Here we investigated the spatial distribution and removal efficiencies pharmaceuticals in China's WWTPs. A total of 35 pharmaceuticals in wastewater samples from 12 WWTPs at different cities of China were analyzed. Among these detected pharmaceuticals, caffeine showed the highest concentration (up to 1775.98ngL-1) in the WWTP influent. In addition, there were significant regional differences in pharmaceutical distribution with higher influent concentrations of total pharmaceuticals detected in WWTPs in the northern cities than the southern ones. The state-of-the-art treatment processes were generally inefficient in removing pharmaceuticals. Only 14.3% of pharmaceuticals were removed effectively (mean removal efficiency>70%), while 51.4% had a removal rate of below 30%. The anaerobic/anoxic/oxic (AAO)-membrane bioreactor (MBR) integrated process and sequencing batch reactor (SBR) showed better performance than the AAO and oxidation ditch (OD) processes. Ofloxacin, erythromycin-H2O, clarithromycin, roxithromycin and sulfamethoxazole in WWTP effluents exhibited a high or medium ecological risk and deserved special attention.
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Department of Chemistry, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China; Suzhou Institute for Advanced Study, USTC, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, PR China.
authors.forename: Hou-Qi
authors.initials: HQ
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution (SKLMP), Research Centre for the Oceans and Human Health, Shenzhen Key Laboratory for Sustainable Use of Marine Biodiversity, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China; Department of Science and Environmental Studies, The Education University of Hong of Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors.forename: James C W
authors.initials: JCW
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Department of Chemistry, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China; Suzhou Institute for Advanced Study, USTC, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, PR China.
authors.forename: Wen-Wei
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Department of Chemistry, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China. Electronic address: hqyu@ustc.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Han-Qing
authors.initials: HQ
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution (SKLMP), Research Centre for the Oceans and Human Health, Shenzhen Key Laboratory for Sustainable Use of Marine Biodiversity, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China. Electronic address: bhpksl@cityu.edu.hk.
authors.forename: Paul K S
authors.initials: PKS
authors.lastname: Lam
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D002947:Cities; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D062206:Spatial Analysis; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Antibiotics; Pharmaceuticals; Regional distribution; Removal efficiency; Risk assessment; Wastewater treatment plants