Fate and Transport of Three Pharmaceuticals in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

Minta Shaefer,Laura Doyle,University Of California, Davis ,Michael Johnson,William Fleenor

doi:10.15447/sfews.2013v11iss2art3

Abstract

Erratum dated 2014 June 25Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are found in surface waters worldwide. Wastewater treatment plant effluent is a major source of these contaminants. The Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta (Delta) is a unique aquatic ecosystem, a source of drinking water for over 25 million Californians, and a primary source of water for Central Valley agriculture. The sharp decline of four pelagic fish species in the Delta in the last decade is just one of several indicators that the ecosystem is severely impaired. Several wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) discharge into the Delta, directly or through tributaries. The presence of PPCPs in the Delta has received very little attention relative to the immense effort underway to rehabilitate the ecosystem. This study determined concentrations of PPCPs in the Sacramento River in the vicinity of the Sacramento Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant using passive sampler monitoring. These data were used to estimate loads of three of the detected pharmaceuticals (carbamazepine, fluoxetine, and trimethoprim) from nine other WWTPs that discharge to the Delta. The 2-D, finite element, Resource Management Associates (RMA) Delta Model was then applied to determine the distribution that might result from these discharges. The model was run for the 2006, 2007, and 2009 water years. Results indicate that it is feasible that WWTP discharges could result in chronic presence of these pharmaceuticals at low ng L-1 levels at all 45 model output locations and, therefore, aquatic organisms within the Delta may be continually exposed to these contaminants.

Highlights

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are recognized water pollutants and can be found at trace levels in surface water and groundwater around the world (Barnes et al 2008; Kolpin et al 2002; Petrovic 2007)
We considered effluent inputs from each wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) to be proportional to those from the Sacramento Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant (SRWTP), and calculated the inputs for each pharmaceutical using the concentrations determined from the Polar Organic Chemical Integrative Sampler (POCIS) sampling of the Sacramento River and the effluent flow time series from each WWTP
Trimethoprim, sulfamethoxazole, ibuprofen, carbamazepine, fluoxetine, nonylphenol, and nonylphenol ethoxylate were detected at Site 3

Summary

Introduction

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are recognized water pollutants and can be found at trace levels in surface water and groundwater around the world (Barnes et al 2008; Kolpin et al 2002; Petrovic 2007). PPCPs are present in drinking water the effects on human health are unknown (Benotti et al 2008). Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent is the most significant environmental source of PPCPs (Daughton and Ternes 1999; Petrovicand Barceló 2007). PPCP compounds and metabolites are excreted through urine and feces or washed from the body and released into wastewater streams and septic systems (Daughton and Ternes 1999). Existing wastewater treatment systems were not designed to remove the compounds found in PPCPs and a costeffective treatment option is not currently available (Bolonga et al 2008; Ternes 1999). Wastewater treatment processes reduce the concentrations of many PPCPs to varying degrees (Petrovicand Barceló 2007). PPCPs are not regulated as water contaminants by the federal or California state governments

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