R4 AM Occurrence and Fate of Pharmaceutical and Other Emerging Wastewater Contaminants in Aquatic Systems
Thursday, 17 November 2005: 8:00 AM - 11:40 AM in Ballroom 4

(RAM-1117-547923) Fate of pharmaceuticals in sediments.

Ramil, M.¹, Loeffler, D.¹, Fink, G.¹, Ternes, T. A.¹, ¹ Federal Institute of Hydrology, Koblenz, Germany

ABSTRACT- During the last few years, the understanding of the fate and effects of pharmaceuticals in the environment has progressed significantly, but there is still much work to do for a complete evaluation of the risks associated to the ubiquitous presence of these compounds. Fate studies carried out recently have been based on factors and processes affecting the behavior of veterinary medicines applied to soils in slurry and manure, or the photodegradation of selected human medicines in surface waters. However, there is a lack of information about further degradation processes in rivers and streams, on fate in estuarine and marine systems and on the extent of sorption to suspended matter and sediments. The fate of selected pharmaceuticals and some of their metabolites has been investigated in aerobic water/sediment tests according to OECD Guideline 308 in order to elucidate their potential accumulation in the aqueous medium. Analysis was carried out either by radio-TLC or LC-tandem MS depending on the availability of C14-standards. The different affinity of studied compounds for the sediment compartment, together with some further data about biodegradation and mineralisation will be discussed.

Key words: fate, pharmaceuticals, sediments