Occurrence and fate of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) at a northern wastewater treatment facility (original) (raw)

The occurrence of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) in municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) is an emerging environmental issue. Among other concerns, aquatic invertebrates sampled from WWTP have measurable concentrations of PPCPs, which have been found to cause adverse effects in the growth and development of birds when consumed. The Livingstone Trail Environmental Control Facility (LTECF) is the municipal wastewater treatment facility for the City of Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada (lat. 60 o 43'N, long. 135 o 03'W). The LTECF is a constructed wetland that hosts a high diversity and abundance of waterfowl, which may be attracted to the facility due to the abundance of aquatic invertebrates. Risk of PPCP accumulation in waterfowl feeding at the LTECF is a concern because the facility may be acting as an ecological trap. This research was the first of its kind at the LTECF and represents a first step in understanding the potential risk to waterfowl feeding at the LTECF. The main objectives of the study were to 1) quantify the occurrence of PPCPs in water, sludge, aquatic invertebrates, and algae, and 2) quantify the removal efficiency, seasonal variation, and bioaccumulation of PPCPs at the LTECF. Water, sludge, aquatic invertebrates, and algae were sampled from the primary, secondary and tertiary stages of treatment in the spring, summer and fall in 2013 and 2014. The PPCPs with the highest concentrations in water were: acetaminophen (150 µg/L), caffeine (100 µg/L) and ibuprofen (10 µg/L), consistent with other studies of WWTP. The PPCPs with the highest concentrations in sludge, aquatic invertebrates and algae were two antimicrobials, triclosan (93,000 ng/g, 36 ng/g, and 210 ng/g, respectively) and triclocarban (31,000 ng/g; 29 µg/g; 47 ng/g, respectively), also consistent with other WWTP studies. Estrogens and synthetic musks A project such as this would not be possible without the generous help and support from many different people and organizations. First off, I'd like to thank my supervisory committee (i.e., cosupervisors Katie Aitken and Fiona Schmiegelow, and committee members Jim Hawkings and Cameron Eckert) for always being there when I needed them and providing guidance when I wasn't sure where things were going. Thanks in particular to Jim Hawkings and Cameron Eckert for providing their vast knowledge and expertise during the early stages of the research, and helping to define the research objectives. I would like to acknowledge all my financial supporters for their generous contributions and confidence in the project: City of Whitehorse, Northern Research Institute, Yukon College, Environment Yukon, Fish and Wildlife Enhancement Trust Fund, and Ecofor Consulting Ltd. Also, thanks to the Yukon Bird Club for being a continuous supporter and partner of research at the Whitehorse sewage lagoon. Thank you to Yukon College and Alexco Environmental Group for loaning me field equipment to collect my samples. I would also like to thank the City of Whitehorse, specifically Dave Albisser, for being so encouraging to see this research happen. I want to acknowledge Naomi Stock and the staff at the Water Quality Centre at Trent University for performing all the lab analyses, and providing me an affordable rate; this project would not have been possible if it wasn't for your lab. Thank you, Janelle Langlais, for volunteering your precious evenings and weekends to brave the aromas of the lagoon to help with data collection. Your patience over the last five years is greatly appreciated and did not go unnoticed. Finally, I'd like to acknowledge Helmut Grünberg as a great mentor and inspiration to keep pursuing research at the Whitehorse sewage lagoon. His hours of volunteer time and contribution of data has been a big part of the success of this project. I would like to dedicate this thesis to him as I know he would be proud of the work and would like to see this research continue.