In this study, laboratory column experiments under water saturated conditions were conducted for over 35 days to investigate the transport of nine pharmaceuticals (nadolol, sulfamethizole, sulfamethoxazole, sulfamethoxypyridazine, carbamazepine, ibuprofen, diclofenac, hydrochlorothiazide, and gemfibrozil) and four artificial sweeteners (acesulfame, saccharin, cyclamate, and sucralose) in two soils (S and C) with similar organic carbon content (between 0.8 and 1.1%) and pH (7.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOceans are the ultimate sink for many of the over 100 million man-made substances. Until now, monitoring was limited to a reduced number of targeted persistent organic pollutants, reaching open waters mainly via atmospheric deposition. However, the composition and fate of the thousands of pollutants reaching the marine environment though wastewater discharges from coastal sources remain largely unexplored.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLarge quantities of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) are susceptible of entering the terrestrial environments through the application of recycled wastewater, manures, and biosolids, resulting in their progressive contamination and possible long-term effects over terrestrial species. Many studies on the environmental fate of CECs focus on aquatic environments and/or wastewater treatment plants, but little is still known about their behavior at environmentally relevant concentrations in agricultural soils. In this study, we evaluated the adsorption and degradation of nine different pharmaceuticals (nadolol, sulfamethizole, sulfamethoxazole, sulfamethopyridazone, carbamazepine, ibuprofen, diclofenac, hydrochlorothiazide, and gemfibrozil) and four artificial sweeteners (acesulfame, saccharin, cyclamate, and sucralose) in two soils under aerobic and anaerobic conditions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClean water is one of the main resources for key activities such as agriculture, power generation, and public and industrial supplies. However, once wastewater generated by these activities is released into the environment, it may represent a potential risk to ecosystems and even human health depending on the presence of certain types and levels of contaminants. This study is focused on personal care products (PCPs), a class of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) which includes commonly used cosmetic and personal hygiene products (e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Total Environ
February 2019
Contamination is an important factor for determining the pattern of habitat selection by organisms. Since many organisms are able to move from contaminated to more favorable habitats, we aimed to: (i) verify if the contamination along the river Guadalete (Spain) could generate a chemical barrier, restricting the displacement of freshwater shrimps (Atyaephyra desmarestii) and (ii) discriminate the role of the contaminants concerning the preference response by the shrimps. A.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCruise ship wastewater discharges are pollution sources towards the marine environment that are poorly characterized. In this study, wastewater samples from cruise ships have been obtained during repair works in a shipyard. Different organic pollutants have been analyzed and their concentrations were similar to those in urban wastewaters for pharmaceuticals and fragrances, but higher for UV filters and PAHs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis is the first comprehensive study on the input, occurrence, and distribution of artificial sweeteners (ASs) in coastal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and their receiving coastal waters. Acesulfame (ACE), aspartame (ASP), cyclamate (CYC), saccharine (SAC), and sucralose (SUC) were monitored for 6 months in Cadiz Bay (SW Spain). ASP was always detected at <0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe use of reclaimed wastewater for irrigation is foreseen as a possible strategy to mitigate the pressure on water resources in dry regions. However, there is the risk of potential accumulation of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in the edaphic environment, their percolation and consequently contamination of aquifers. In the present study, we measured the levels of a wide range of commonly used pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) in sewage from a local wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and in soils irrigated with treated wastewater.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this study, we have evaluated the occurrence and distribution of 78 pharmaceuticals in different aquatic marine environments from the Gulf of Cadiz (SW Spain) for the first time. The obtained results revealed that pharmaceuticals were present in seawater at total concentrations ranging 61-2133 and 16-189ngL in coastal and oceanic transects, respectively. Potential marine pollution hotspots were observed in enclosed or semi-enclosed water bodies (Cadiz Bay), showing concentrations that were one or two orders of magnitude higher than in the open ocean.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe occurrence of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) in the environment may pose a potential risk for humans and ecosystems. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are recognized as one of the main sources of these chemicals into both aquatic and terrestrial environments. The objectives of the study were to determine the presence of a wide variety of PhACs (n = 45) in sewage-impacted sediments and soils from the Guadalete River basin (SW Spain) by developing and applying an environmentally friendly multi-residue method based on pressurized hot water extraction (PHWE).
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