Abstract
The problem of the presence of pharmaceuticals and endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) in the environment is closely related to municipal wastewater and in consequence to municipal wastewater treatment plants (MWWTPs) because wastewater is the main way in which these compounds are transferred to the ecosystem. For this reason, the development of cheap, simple but very effective techniques for the removal of such residues from wastewater is very important. In this study, the analysis of the potential of using three new plants: Cyperus papyrus (Papyrus), Lysimachia nemorum (Yellow pimpernel), and Euonymus europaeus (European spindle) by hydroponic cultivation for the removal of 15 selected pharmaceuticals and endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) in an MWWTP is presented. In order to obtain the most reliable data, this study was performed using real WWTP conditions and with the determination of the selected analytes in untreated sewage, treated sewage, and in plant materials. For determining the target compounds in plant materials, an Accelerated Solvent Extraction (ASE)-Solid-Phase Extraction (SPE)-GC-MS(SIM) method was developed and validated. The obtained data proved that the elimination efficiency of the investigated substances from wastewater was in the range of 35.8% for diflunisal to above 99.9% for paracetamol, terbutaline, and flurbiprofen. Lysimachia nemorum was the most effective for the uptake of target compounds among the tested plant species. Thus, the application of constructed wetlands for supporting conventional MWWTPs allowed a significant increase in their removal from the wastewater stream.
Highlights
Pharmaceuticals are used in large quantities around the world
The mass spectra of target compounds with the MS fragments assignation are included in Figure S1 in Supplementary Materials
The obtained elimination efficiency (EE) of the investigated compounds from wastewater was in the range of 35.8% for diflunisal to above 99.9% for paracetamol, terbutaline and flurbiprofen (Table 4)
Summary
Pharmaceuticals are used in large quantities around the world. In many cases, they are used to prevent disease or for treatment in humans, and in animals [1,2]. Over the last two decades, the presence of pharmaceuticals and EDCs in the aquatic environment has been confirmed many times [3,4,5,6]. They have been found in treated wastewater [7], sewage sludge [8], marine waters [9], and in living organisms [10]. They are extensively introduced into the environment via wastewater and in consequence by wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) because the classical methods of wastewater treatment in WWTPs (mechanical, biological, chemical) do not completely remove pharmaceuticals and EDCs from the wastewater stream [11,12,13,14]
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