W EEKLY EDITION JUNE 19 , 2019
Pharmaceuticals in Wastewater: Implications
for the Portable Sanitation Industry
By Karleen Kos, PSAI Executive Director …Continued From Page 1
B ac kg r ou n d .
Scientists and wastewater prof essionals have known for years that trace pharmaceuticals and personal
care products are present in wastewater. In its January 1998 issue the scholarly journal Chemosphere
published a review of information known at that time, summarizing it in the followin g abstract:
[Pharmaceuticals] are a group of substances that until recently have been exposed to the
environment with very little attention. The reason why they may be interesting as
environmental micropollutants, is that medical substances are developed with the intention
of performing a biological effect. Especially antibiotics used as growth promoters, [such] as
feed additives in fish farms are anticipated to end up in the environment. Very little is known
about the exposure routes of the medical substa nces to the environment. […] Further
research would be necessary to assess the environmental risk involved in exposing medical
substances and metabolites to the environment.
An investigation conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1999 to check the occurrence of drugs
and personal care products including sterols, hormones, p harmaceuticals, and antibiotics in s urface
and ground water confirmed at least one substance was present at low levels in more than two thirds
of the samples. Steroids, nonprescription drugs, and pesticides were the most frequently detected
compounds.
By February 2007 more
research had bee n done and
the Journal of Analytical and
Bioanalytical Chemistry
reported on the success of
different wastewater treatment
methods in removing trace
pharmaceuticals from treated
water. T he study found that
membrane bioreactor (MBR)
technology was more effective
than conventional activated
sludge (CAS) methods for
reducing pharmaceuticals in
wastewater. The findings also
stated:
P AGE 9
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