Influence of biosolids and sewage effluent application on sitagliptin soil sorption

Abstract

Biosolids and sewage effluent application to agricultural fields is becoming a win-win practice as both an economical waste management strategy and a source of nutrients and organic matter for plant growth. However, these organic wastes contain a variety of trace chemicals of environmental concern such as pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), which may pose a risk to agricultural fields and ecosystems. This work aims to investigate the sorption of sitagliptin on four agricultural soils, evaluate the effects of biosolids and sewage effluent application, and elucidate the main sorption mechanism of the pharmaceutical on soils. The sorption study revealed that the sorption capacities of sitagliptin on different soils were positively related to the contents of soil organic matter and negatively associated with soil pH values. The application of biosolids and sewage effluent decreased the sorption capacity of sitagliptin, which may be attributed to the loading of dissolved organic matter derived from organic wastes. The Freundlich isotherm model demonstrated that the addition of biosolids from 0 to 100 % (W/W) consistently decreased the sorption affinity (Kf) of sitagliptin from 1.69 × 102 to 3.82 × 101 mg(1-n) Ln kg−1. Sewage application at 0, 10, 50, and 100 % (V/V) also reduced the Kf values from 1.69 × 102 to 9.17 × 101 mg(1-n) Ln kg−1. Attenuated Total Reflection (ATR)-Infrared (IR) spectroscopy analyses suggested that electrostatic interactions between carbonyl and amino groups of sitagliptin and the negatively charged soil surface are the main sorption mechanisms. In a co-solute system, the sorption affinity of sitagliptin on the soil decreased with increasing metformin concentrations, suggesting that competitive sorption may reduce the sorption capacity of individual contaminants in soil systems containing multiple PPCPs.