A Solid-phase Extraction Method for Rapidly Determining the Adsorption Coefficient of Pharmaceuticals in Sewage Sludge

Overview

Journal Water Res

Specialties Environmental Health
Toxicology

Date 2014 Oct 10

PMID 25299795

Citations 2

Authors

Laurence Berthod

Gary Roberts

David C Whitley

Alan Sharpe

Graham A Mills

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The partitioning of pharmaceuticals in the environment can be assessed by measuring their adsorption coefficients (Kd) between aqueous and solid phases. Measuring this coefficient in sewage sludge gives an indication of their partitioning behaviour in a wastewater treatment plant and hence contributes to an understanding of their subsequent fate. The regulatory approved method for measuring Kd in sewage sludge is the US Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances (OPPTS) guideline 835.1110, which is labour intensive and time consuming. We describe an alternative method for measuring the Kd of pharmaceuticals in sewage sludge using a modified solid-phase extraction (SPE) technique. SPE cartridges were packed at different sludge/PTFE ratios (0.4, 6.0, 24.0 and 40.0% w/w sludge) and eluted with phosphate buffer at pH 7.4. The approach was tested initially using three pharmaceuticals (clofibric acid, diclofenac and oxytetracycline) that covered a range of Kd values. Subsequently, the sorption behaviour of ten further pharmaceuticals with varying physico-chemical properties was evaluated. Results from the SPE method were comparable to those of the OPPTS test, with a correlation coefficient of 0.93 between the two approaches. SPE cartridges packed with sludge and PTFE were stable for up to one year; use within one month reduced variability in measurements (to a maximum of 0.6 log units). The SPE method is low-cost, easy to use and enables the rapid measurement of Kd values for a large number of chemicals. It can be used as an alternative to the more laborious full OPPTS test in environmental fate studies and risk assessments.

Citing Articles

Quantitative structure-property relationships for predicting sorption of pharmaceuticals to sewage sludge during waste water treatment processes.

Berthod L, Whitley D, Roberts G, Sharpe A, Greenwood R, Mills G Sci Total Environ. 2016; 579:1512-1520.

PMID: 27919554 PMC: 5206221. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.11.156.

Impact of sludge stabilization processes and sludge origin (urban or hospital) on the mobility of pharmaceutical compounds following sludge landspreading in laboratory soil-column experiments.

Lachassagne D, Soubrand M, Casellas M, Gonzalez-Ospina A, Dagot C Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2015; 22(21):17135-50.

PMID: 26139401 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-015-4918-4.

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