PARENT SESSION

1H a/b/c - Pesticides, pharmaceuticals, perfluoroalkylated substances, antibiotics
Poster Hall
8:30 AM - Wednesday, 30 April 2003
Chair: de Voogt, P.¹, ¹
Co-chair: Purdy, R.², Pluecken, U.³, Koerdel, W.⁴, Tolls, J.⁵, Kümmerer, K.⁶, ^{2 3 4 5 6}

(WEP/28) Targeting Monitoring Programme for Pharmaceuticals in the Aquatic Environment.

Ashton, Danielle¹, Thomas, K.², ¹ Environment Agency, NCEHS, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, United Kingdom² CEFAS, Burnham-on-Crouch, United Kingdom, United Kingdom

ABSTRACT- The issue of the presence and potential adverse effects of pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment has become increasingly prevalent in the scientific press; due to a growing number of papers reporting trace levels of pharmaceuticals detected in sewage effluent, surface water and groundwater, both in Europe and North America. The Environment Agency commissioned a review of literature information on the occurrence, fate and effects of pharmaceuticals in the environment, published May 2000. To investigate the potential risk posed to the aquatic environment by pharmaceutical substances, the Environment Agency adopted a screening approach to highlight those substances most likely to reach the environment in concentrations that could pose a risk. A number of substances were selected for a targeted monitoring programme, covering a range of therapeutic drug classes. Sampling was conducted at five sewage treatment works (STW). Analytical methods were developed and validated to determine ng L^-1 concentrations of the pharmaceutical compounds trimethoprim, diclofenac, sulfamethoxazole, sulfamethoxazole acetate, paracetamol, mefenamic acid, ibuprofen, erythromycin, dextropropoxyphene, lofepramine, tamoxifen and propranolol in STW effluents and receiving water samples collected over a three month period. Ten pharmaceutical compounds were detected in STW effluent samples, eight of these were also detected in receiving water samples. In all cases the measured downstream concentrations, expressed as an average for all five sites examined, were within the same order of magnitude as the Predicted Environmental Concentrations derived during the prioritisation process. The full data set will be presented and discussed within the context of its environmental significance where possible. Future research areas will be discussed to enable environmental regulators to understand the risk to the environment from pharmaceuticals.

Key words: monitoring, pharmaceutical compounds, surface water, sewage effluent