Grantee Research Project Results

2002 Progress Report: Pharmaceuticals and Antiseptics: Occurrence and Fate in Drinking Water, Sewage Treatment Facilities, and Coastal Waters

EPA Grant Number: R829004
Title: Pharmaceuticals and Antiseptics: Occurrence and Fate in Drinking Water, Sewage Treatment Facilities, and Coastal Waters
Investigators: Roberts, A. Lynn , Bouwer, Edward J.
Institution: The Johns Hopkins University
EPA Project Officer: Page, Angela
Project Period: September 1, 2001 through August 31, 2004 (Extended to August 9, 2006)
Project Period Covered by this Report: September 1, 2001 through August 31, 2002
Project Amount: $524,890
RFA: Drinking Water (2000) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Drinking Water , Water Quality , Water

Objective:

Prior to initiating this research project, there was a paucity of information concerning the occurrence, (eco)toxic risk, and fate of pharmaceuticals in the United States. This study was designed to redress critical aspects of this deficiency by providing an assessment of the prevalence of important pharmaceuticals and antiseptics in drinking water, sewage treatment plant (STP) influent and effluent, and receiving waters. During the 3-year research project, we will: (1) compile data on pharmaceutical usage, probable environmental concentrations and associated risk; (2) select target compounds based on resulting calculations of potential environmental concentrations and, where possible, environmental risk; (3) refine analytical methods for quantification of pharmaceuticals in sewage and drinking water samples using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) techniques that can be readily adopted by others; (4) analyze concentrations of target pharmaceuticals in raw and finished drinking water samples from public utilities to relate removal efficiency with treatment processes employed; and (5) examine the adequacy of current wastewater treatment practices for reducing pharmaceutical emissions by analyzing influent and effluent samples.

Progress Summary:

This report covers the first year of this research project. The first year was primarily devoted to Objectives 1 and 3. Compilation of use and risk data, and method refinement for a suite of compounds that can be determined by derivatization (followed by GC/MS with either electron impact or negative chemical ionization) is complete. We also conducted initial studies pertaining to Objectives 4 and 5.

We have calculated probable environmental concentrations (PECs) for the "Top 200" pharmaceuticals currently used in the United States. Wherever possible, we compared PECs to probable no-effect concentrations (PNECs) calculated from published sources. Also, we summarized information pertaining to the metabolism of important pharmaceuticals. The results should prove useful in focusing attention on existing pharmaceuticals most likely to be encountered at environmentally significant concentrations and that could pose (eco)toxic risks. We refined other analytical methods to provide the sensitivity needed to quantify six pharmaceuticals (phenytoin, valproic acid, 5-fluorouracil, primidone, phenobarbital, and secobarbital) in natural waters. We based the selection of target compounds on calculations of probable environmental concentrations, as well as screening studies conducted on sewage treatment plant influents. We also considered persistence and environmental risk associated with these pharmaceuticals (inferred from existing literature). The procedures we have developed provide improved detection limits (as much as three orders of magnitude below those reported by others). We have attained the extremely high sensitivity needed for analyzing trace concentrations in drinking water, while relying on benchtop GC/MS techniques, which require modest instrument costs. The procedures we have developed can be used by many other researchers with access to GC/MS instrumentation. This should help catalyze future studies of pharmaceuticals as environmental contaminants by other research groups. We have conducted preliminary screening studies in STPs, and have detected primidone and phenytoin in some sewage influent samples.

Future Activities:

We will continue our efforts to develop suitable methods for the analysis of additional human pharmaceuticals, selected on the basis of their PECs and likely toxicity. We will determine concentrations of target analytes in raw and finished drinking water samples obtained from public utilities across the United States. In addition, we will relate removal efficiencies to treatment processes. We will examine the adequacy of current wastewater treatment practices for reducing emission of pharmaceuticals. In addition, we will determine the presence of selected antiseptics by measuring their concentrations in an STP not previously analyzed by our group.

We then will conduct laboratory studies examining the removal of the selected pharmaceuticals in the presence of a selected antiseptic to investigate whether toxic/inhibitory effects introduced by interactions with antimicrobials could limit biodegradability in actual wastewater. Results obtained in "clean" microcosms will be compared to those obtained in actual STP waters.

Journal Articles:

No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 20 publications for this project

Supplemental Keywords:

environmental engineering, environmental chemistry., RFA, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Scientific Discipline, Water, Waste, Ecological Risk Assessment, Fate & Transport, Environmental Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Groundwater remediation, Wastewater, Monitoring/Modeling, Drinking Water, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Monitoring, anticeptics, sewage treatment plants, treatment, monitoring, analytical methods, effluents, wastewater treatment plants, chemical contaminants, personal care products, fate and transport, water treatment, drinking water contaminants, groundwater, exposure, other - risk assessment, pharmaceuticals, groundwater monitoring, surface water

Progress and Final Reports:

Original Abstract

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.