Antineoplastic drugs in urban wastewater: Occurrence, nanofiltration treatment and toxicity screening*

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2023

Authors

Teresa I. A. Gouveia (Author) FEUP; Maria B. Cristovão (Author) Other; Vanessa J. Pereira (Author) Other; João G. Crespo (Author) Other; Arminda Alves (Author) FEUP; Ana Rita L. T. Ribeiro (Author) FEUP; Adrián M. T. Silva (Author) FEUP; Mónica S. F. Santos (Author) Other

Journal

Title: Environmental Pollution

Vol. 332

Pages: 1-11

ISSN: 0269-7491

Publisher: Elsevier

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 0 Citations

Scopus - 0 Citations

Associated Projects

Healthy Waters - Healthy Waters - Identification, Elimination, Social Awareness and Education of Water Chemical and Biological Micropollutants with Health and Environmental Implications

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00Y-HS6

DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121944

Abstract (EN): Antineoplastic drugs are pharmaceuticals that have been raising concerns among the scientific community due to: (i) their increasing prescription in the fight against the disease of the twentieth century (cancer); (ii) their recalcitrance to conventional wastewater treatments; (iii) their poor environmental biodegradability; and (iv) their potential risk to any eukaryotic organism. This emerges the urgency in finding solutions to mitigate the entrance and accumulation of these hazardous chemicals in the environment. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have been taken into consideration to improve the degradation of antineoplastic drugs in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), but the formation of by-products that are more toxic or exhibit a different toxicity profile than the parent drug is frequently reported. This work evaluates the performance of a nanofiltration pilot unit, equipped with a Desal 5DK membrane, in the treatment of real WWTP effluents contaminated (without spiking) with eleven pharmaceuticals, five of which were never studied before. Average removals of 68 & PLUSMN; 23% were achieved for the eleven compounds, with decreasing risks from feed to permeate for aquatic organisms from receiving waterbodies (with the exception of cyclophosphamide, for which a high risk was estimated in the permeate). Aditionally, no significative impact on the growth and germination of three different seeds (Lepidium sativum, Sinapis alba, and Sorghum saccharatum) were determined for permeate matrix in comparison to the control.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 11