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

Ibuprofen-enhanced biodegradation in solution and sewage sludge by a mineralizing microbial consortium. Shift in associated bacterial communities

Ibuprofen (IBP) is a widely used drug of environmental concern as emerging contaminant due to its low elimination rates by wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), leading to the contamination of the environment, where IBP is introduced mainly from wastewater discharge and sewage sludge used as fertilizer. This study describes the application of a consortium from sewage sludge and acclimated with ibuprofen (consortium C7) to accelerate its biodegradation both in solution and sewage sludge. 500 mg L-1 IBP was degraded in solution in 28 h, and 66% mineralized in 3 days. IBP adsorbed in sewage sludge (10 mg kg-1) was removed after bioaugmentation with C7 up to 90% in 16 days, with a 5-fold increase in degradation rate. This is the first time that bioaugmentation with bacterial consortia or isolated bacterial strains have been used for IBP degradation in sewage sludge. The bacterial community of consortium C7 was significantly enriched in Sphingomonas wittichii, Bordetella petrii, Pseudomonas stutzeri and Bosea genosp. after IBP degradation, with a special increase in abundance of S. wittichii, probably the main potential bacterial specie responsible for IBP mineralization. Thirteen bacterial strains were isolated from C7 consortium. All of them degraded IBP in presence of glucose, especially Labrys neptuniae. Eight of these bacterial strains (B. tritici, L. neptuniae, S. zoogloeoides, B. petrii, A. denitrificans, S. acidaminiphila, P. nitroreducens, C. flaccumfaciens) had not been previously described as IBP-degraders. The bacterial community that makes up the indigenous consortium C7 appears to have a highly efficient biotic degradation potential to facilitate bioremediation of ibuprofen in contaminated effluents as well as in sewage sludge generated in WWTPs.

From Sewage Sludge to the Soil-Transfer of Pharmaceuticals: A Review

Sewage sludge, produced in the process of wastewater treatment and managed for agriculture, poses the risk of disseminating all the pollutants contained in it. It is tested for heavy metals or parasites, but the concentration of pharmaceuticals in the sludge is not controlled. The presence of these micropollutants in sludge is proven and there is no doubt about their negative impact on the environment. The fate of these micropollutants in the soil is a new and important issue that needs to be known to finally assess the safety of the agricultural use of sewage sludge. The article will discuss issues related to the presence of pharmaceuticals in sewage sludge and their physicochemical properties. The changes that pharmaceuticals undergo have a significant impact on living organisms. This is important for the implementation of a circular economy, which fits perfectly into the agricultural use of stabilized sewage sludge. Research should be undertaken that clearly shows that there is no risk from pharmaceuticals or vice versa: they contribute to the strict definition of maximum allowable concentrations in sludge, which will become an additional criterion in the legislation on municipal sewage sludge.

The impact of sewage sludge processing on the safety of its use

Particular attention is devoted to pharmaceutical residues in sewage sludge caused by their potential ecotoxicological effects. Diclofenac, ibuprofen and carbamazepine, 17-α-ethinylestradiol, β-estradiol, were analysed in four types of fertilizers, based on sewage sludge commercial products, in compliance with Polish requirements. The release of active pharmaceutical compounds from fertilizers to water the phase after 24 h and 27 days was analysed. Solid-water partition coefficients (K_d) and partitioning coefficient values normalized on organic carbon content (log K_OC) were evaluated. The environmental risk to terrestrial ecosystems, due to the application of fertilizers onto soils, was estimated. Cumulative mass of pharmaceuticals emitted to water from fertilizers ranged from 0.4 to 30.8 µg/kg after 24 h contact. The greatest amount of the material that was released, over 70%, was observed for carbamazepine. No presence of compounds except ibuprofen was observed after 27 days of testing. The highest environmental risk in fertilizers is due to carbamazepine, risk quotation, RQ = 0.93 and diclofenac RQ = 0.17. The values of risk quotation estimated for soil were below RQ = 0.01. This fact means that no risk to terrestrial ecosystems is expected to occur. The important decrease of the concentrations of active compounds after passing from sewage sludge to fertilizers [and] to fertilized soil could be observed.

Pharmaceuticals and Their Main Metabolites in Treated Sewage Sludge and Sludge-Amended Soil: Availability and Sorption Behaviour

This work evaluated the availability and sorption behaviour of four pharmaceuticals and eight of their metabolites in sewage sludge and sludge-amended soil. Digested sludge and compost were evaluated. The highest levels found in digested sludge corresponded to caffeine (up to 115 ng g⁻¹ dm), ibuprofen (45 ng g⁻¹ dm) and carbamazepine (9.3 ng g⁻¹ dm). The concentrations measured in compost were even lower than in digested sludge. No compound was detected in sludge-amended soils. This fact could be due to the dilution effect after sludge application to soil. Different adsorption capacities in sludge–soil mixtures were measured for the studied compounds at the same spike concentration. In general, except for paraxanthine and 3-hydroxycarbamazepine, the metabolite concentrations measured in the mixtures were almost two-fold lower than those of their parent compounds, which can be explained by their mobility and lixiviation tendency. The log K_d ranged from −1.55 to 1.71 in sludge samples and from −0.29 to 1.18 in soil–sludge mixtures. The log K_d values calculated for compost were higher than those calculated for digested sludge. The obtained results implied that the higher organic carbon content of compost could influence soil contamination when it is applied to soil.

Characterization of organic compounds and drugs in sewage sludge aiming for agricultural recycling

The application of sewage sludge in soils can bring benefits to agricultural productivity, however, the risks arising from this application must be measured and carefully evaluated. Persistent organics compounds and drugs can be present in the sewage sludge and if applied to the soil, they can cause severe risks to the soil biota and contamination of groundwater. This work determined 174 persistent organic compounds and drugs in sludge samples from a wastewater treatment plant using chromatographic methods. The drugs ciprofloxacin, enrofloxacin and diclofenac were quantified, and values varied according to sampling period. For persistent organic compounds, cresols were the most abundant compounds in sewage sludge. With the analyses made of both the elutriate and the filtrate, it was possible to verify the potential for soil retention or leaching that each compound can present with the application of sewage sludge in the agriculture.

Two-year survey of specific hospital wastewater treatment and its impact on pharmaceutical discharges

It is well known that pharmaceuticals are not completely removed by conventional activated sludge wastewater treatment plants. Hospital effluents are of major concern, as they present high concentrations of pharmaceutically active compounds. Despite this, these specific effluents are usually co-treated with domestic wastewaters. Separate treatment has been recommended. However, there is a lack of information concerning the efficiency of separate hospital wastewater treatment by activated sludge, especially on the removal of pharmaceuticals. In this context, this article presents the results of a 2-year monitoring of conventional parameters, surfactants, gadolinium, and 13 pharmaceuticals on the specific study site SIPIBEL. This site allows the characterization of urban and hospital wastewaters and their separate treatment using the same process. Flow proportional sampling, solid-phase extraction, and liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry were used in order to obtain accurate data and limits of quantification consistent with ultra-trace detection. Thanks to these consolidated data, an in-depth characterization of urban and hospital wastewaters was realized, as well as a comparison of treatment efficiency between both effluents. Higher concentrations of organic carbon, AOX, phosphates, gadolinium, paracetamol, ketoprofen, and antibiotics were observed in hospital wastewaters compared to urban wastewaters. Globally higher removals were observed in the hospital wastewater treatment plant, and some parameters were shown to be of high importance regarding removal efficiencies: hydraulic retention time, redox conditions, and ambient temperature. Eleven pharmaceuticals were still quantified at relevant concentrations in hospital and urban wastewaters after treatment (e.g., up to 1 μg/L for sulfamethoxazole). However, as the urban flow was about 37 times higher than the hospital flow, the hospital contribution appeared relatively low compared to domestic discharges. Thanks to the SIPIBEL site, data obtained from this 2-year program are useful to evaluate the relevance of separate hospital wastewater treatment.

Impact of sludge treatments on the extractability and fate of acetyl sulfamethoxazole residues in amended soils

Sludge recycled in agriculture may bring antibiotics into cropped soils. The nature, total amount, and availability of the antibiotics in soil partly depend on the sludge treatments. Our paper compares the fate of N-acetyl sulfamethoxazole (AC-SMX) residues between soils incubated with the same sludge but submitted to different processes before being added in soil. The fate of ¹⁴C-AC-SMX residues was studied in mixtures of soil and sludges at different treatment levels: 1) activated and 2) centrifuged sludges, both enriched with ¹⁴C-AC-SMX, and 3) limed and 4) heat-dried sludges obtained by treating the previously contaminated centrifuged sludge. The evolution of the extractability of ¹⁴C residues (CaCl₂, methanol) and their mineralization were followed during 119 days. More than 80% of the initial ¹⁴C-activity was no longer extractable after 14 days, except in soil with limed sludge. Liming and drying the centrifuged sludge decreased the mineralized ¹⁴C fraction from 5.7-6.4% to 1.2-1.8% and consequently, the corresponding soils contained more ¹⁴C residues after 119 days. Although ¹⁴C residues were more CaCl₂-extractable in soil with limed sludge, they seemed to be poorly bioavailable for biodegradation. For all solid sludges, the mineralization rate of ¹⁴C-AC-SMX residues was strongly correlated to that of sludge organic carbon, with a coefficient three times lower for the limed and dried sludges than for the centrifuged sludge after 14 days.

Evaluation of SimpleTreat 4.0: Simulations of pharmaceutical removal in wastewater treatment plant facilities

In this study, the removal of pharmaceuticals from wastewater as predicted by SimpleTreat 4.0 was evaluated. Field data obtained from literature of 43 pharmaceuticals, measured in 51 different activated sludge WWTPs were used. Based on reported influent concentrations, the effluent concentrations were calculated with SimpleTreat 4.0 and compared to measured effluent concentrations. The model predicts effluent concentrations mostly within a factor of 10, using the specific WWTP parameters as well as SimpleTreat default parameters, while it systematically underestimates concentrations in secondary sludge. This may be caused by unexpected sorption, resulting from variability in WWTP operating conditions, and/or QSAR applicability domain mismatch and background concentrations prior to measurements. Moreover, variability in detection techniques and sampling methods can cause uncertainty in measured concentration levels. To find possible structural improvements, we also evaluated SimpleTreat 4.0 using several specific datasets with different degrees of uncertainty and variability. This evaluation verified that the most influencing parameters for water effluent predictions were biodegradation and the hydraulic retention time. Results showed that model performance is highly dependent on the nature and quality, i.e. degree of uncertainty, of the data. The default values for reactor settings in SimpleTreat result in realistic predictions.