Development of extraction method of pharmaceuticals and their occurrences found in Japanese wastewater treatment plants

Environ Int. 2009 Jul;35(5):815-20. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2009.01.006. Epub 2009 Feb 7.

Abstract

In this study, occurrence of 66 PPCPs (pharmaceuticals and personal care products) in liquid and solid phases of sewage sludge was elucidated. The extraction methods for the PPCPs from sludge were newly developed employing Pressurized Liquid Extraction (PLE) and Ultrasonic Solvent Extraction (USE). As an appropriate method, PLE using water (pH2), PLE using methanol (pH4), and USE using mixture of methanol and water (1/9,v/v, pH11) was found most effective because total recovery of most of the PPCPs indicated 40 to 130%. The developed extraction method with previously developed method for liquid phase analysis was applied to field survey at wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Japan. 56 compounds were detected from the primary sludge and 61 compounds were detected from the excess sludge. The concentration was ranged between several ng/g and several microg/g. Solid-water distribution coefficient (Log K(d)) ranged between 0.9 L/kg (Caffeine) and 3.7 L/kg (Levofloxacin) for primary sludge and between 1.4 L/kg (Sulpirid) and 4.3 L/kg (Mefenamic acid) for excess sludge.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Environmental Restoration and Remediation / methods*
  • Household Products / analysis*
  • Japan
  • Pharmaceutical Preparations / analysis*
  • Pharmaceutical Preparations / isolation & purification
  • Sewage / analysis*
  • Ultrasonics
  • Waste Disposal, Fluid
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical / analysis*
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical / isolation & purification*

Substances

  • Pharmaceutical Preparations
  • Sewage
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical