Irrigation of treated wastewater in Braunschweig, Germany: an option to remove pharmaceuticals and musk fragrances.

In this study the fate of pharmaceuticals and personal care products which are irrigated on arable land with treated municipal wastewater was investigated. In Braunschweig, Germany, wastewater has been irrigated continuously for more than 45 years. In the winter time only the effluent of the sewage treatment plant (STP) of Braunschweig is used for irrigation, while during summer digested sludge is mixed with the effluent.

Determination of pharmaceuticals, iodinated contrast media and musk fragrances in sludge by LC/tandem MS and GC/MS.

Analytical methods have been developed that allow for the determination of antiphlogistics, lipid regulators, the antiepileptic carbamazepine, cytostatic agents, the psychiatric drug diazepam and iodinated contrast media (ICM) as well as two major polycyclic musk fragrances HHCB (galaxolide) and AHTN (tonalide) in activated and digested sludge. The procedures consist of ultrasonic solvent extraction (USE) using methanol/acetone or pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) using 100% methanol. Clean-up was performed with C18ec material and silica gel followed by LC tandem MS (electrospray or atmospheric pressure chemical ionization) detection for pharmaceuticals and iodinated contrast media as well as GC/MS in the SIM mode for musk fragrances.

A rapid method to measure the solid-water distribution coefficient (Kd) for pharmaceuticals and musk fragrances in sewage sludge.

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products are omnipresent in wastewater world-wide. In order to predict their sorption quantities onto sludge in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), the solid-water distribution coefficients (Kd values) of selected pharmaceuticals (antiphlogistics, estrogens, lipid regulators, anti-epileptic and cytostatic agents) and polycyclic musk fragrances (HHCB, AHTN) were determined in primary and secondary sludges taken from a German municipal WWTP. For the Kd determination, batches of primary and secondary sludge slurries were spiked with the respective target compounds and slowly stirred under defined conditions (e.

Determination of estrogens in sludge and sediments by liquid extraction and GC/MS/MS.

Two methods have been developed that enable the determination of estrogens down to 2 ng/g in digested and activated sludge from domestic sewage treatment plants (STPs) and down to 0.2 ng/g in freshwater sediments. The method for sludge analysis consists of solvent extraction; a gel permeation chromatography (GPC) cleanup step, a 1 g silica gel column; and finally, detection by GC-ion trap MS/MS of the silylated estrogens with MSTFA.