Determination of the persistence of pharmaceuticals in biosolids using liquid-chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

Abstract

Sludge generated in waste water treatment process can be a major sink for some pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs). The land application of sewage sludge (in the form of biosolids in the United States) can therefore potentially introduce PPCPs into the environment. After treatment, biosolids are often subjected to a storage period before land application. However, little information is available with regard to the fate of PPCPs in biosolids during the storage. In this work, the persistence of seven pharmaceuticals and one antibacterial was evaluated using ultrasonic extraction and liquid-chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). The impacts of aeration and sunlight exposure were investigated. During the experiment, no elimination was observed for carbamazepine, triclosan, and ciprofloxacin while elimination was found for tetracycline, doxycycline, clindamycin, erythromycin, and clarithromycin. Using an availability-adjusted kinetic model, the 50% dissipation time was 37 to >77 d for tetracycline, 53 to >77 d for doxycycline, 1.0–1.6 d for clindamycin, 1.1–1.9 d for clarithromycin, and 7.0–17 d for erythromycin. Those compounds were found more persistent under anaerobic conditions than aerobic condition with a longer 50% dissipation time by a factor of 1.5–2. However, minor impact was observed from sunlight irradiation.