Occurrence, seasonal variation, mass loading and fate of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in sewage treatment plants in cities of upper Ganges bank, India

Abstract

The data on the environmental concentration of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) is hardly investigated for major cities of the upper Ganges basin, India. In this study, fifteen PPCPs were analyzed in four sewage treatment plants (STPs) of Haridwar and Rishikesh cities located at the bank of River Ganges, India. Eleven PPCPs were detected with an average total concentration of 147.20 ng L−1 in influent, 105.06 ng L−1 in the effluent, and 87.75 ng kg−1 in sludge from STPs. The average concentration (ng L−1) of individual PPCPs was recorded highest for Caffeine (695.86) followed by, ibuprofen (387.53), acetaminophen (152.81), triclosan (98.93), tetracycline (75.39), ketoprofen (69.47), DEET (46.59), salicylic acid (45.02), erythromycin (32.98), ciprofloxacin (20.16) and metoprolol (13.61) at STPs inlets. Results suggested a spatial and seasonal variation in PPCPs loads in influent, effluent and sludge in STPs studied. The overall PPCPs removal efficiencies of STPs were recorded in the ranges of −154–63%. The total mass load of PPCPs studied ranged between 0.02 and 448.64 mg/d/1000 population. This study concluded that STPs are an active source of PPCPs in the River Ganges, which may pose a grave threat to the health of the river ecosystem and human population.