Browse > Article
http://dx.doi.org/10.5668/JEHS.2013.39.5.391

Fates and Removals of Micropollutants in Drinking Water Treatment  

Nam, Seung-Woo (Department of Environmental Health Graduate School of Public Health Seoul National University)
Zoh, Kyung-Duk (Department of Environmental Health Graduate School of Public Health Seoul National University)
Publication Information
Journal of Environmental Health Sciences / v.39, no.5, 2013 , pp. 391-407 More about this Journal
Abstract
Micropollutants emerge in surface water through untreated discharge from sewage and wastewater treatment plants (STPs and WWTPs). Most micropollutants resist the conventional systems in place at water treatment plants (WTPs) and survive the production of tap water. In particular, pharmaceuticals and endocrine disruptors (ECDs) are micropollutants frequently detected in drinking water. In this review, we summarized the distribution of micropollutants at WTPs and also scrutinized the effectiveness and mechanisms for their removal at each stage of drinking water production. Micropollutants demonstrated clear concentrations in the final effluents of WTPs. Although chronic exposure to micropollutants in drinking water has unclear adverse effects on humans, peer reviews have argued that continuous accumulation in water environments and inappropriate removal at WTPs has the potential to eventually affect human health. Among the available removal mechanisms for micropollutants at WTPs, coagulation alone is unlikely to eliminate the pollutants, but ionized compounds can be adsorbed to natural particles (e.g. clay and colloidal particles) and metal salts in coagulants. Hydrophobicities of micropollutants are a critical factor in adsorption removal using activated carbon. Disinfection can reduce contaminants through oxidation by disinfectants (e.g. ozone, chlorine and ultraviolet light), but unidentified toxic byproducts may result from such treatments. Overall, the persistence of micropollutants in a treatment system is based on the physico-chemical properties of chemicals and the operating conditions of the processes involved. Therefore, monitoring of WTPs and effective elimination process studies for pharmaceuticals and ECDs are required to control micropollutant contamination of drinking water.
Keywords
Micropollutants; pharmaceuticals; endocrine disruptors; water treatment plant; coagulation; adsorption; chlorination;
Citations & Related Records
연도 인용수 순위
  • Reference
1 Vieno N, Tuhkanen T, Kronberg L. Removal of pharmaceuticals in drinking water treatment: effect of chemical coagulation. Environ Technol. 2006; 27(2): 183-192.   DOI   ScienceOn
2 Ratola N, Cincinelli A, Alves A, Katsoyiannis A. Occurrence of organic microcontaminants in the wastewater treatment process. A mini review. J. Hard Mater. 2012; 239-240: 1-18.   DOI   ScienceOn
3 Stackelberg PE, Furlong ET, Meyer MT, Zaugg SD, Henderson AK, Reissman DB. Persistence of pharmaceutical compounds and other organic wastewater contaminants in a conventional drinking-watertreatment plant. Sci Total Environ. 2004; 329(1-3): 99-113.   DOI   ScienceOn
4 Kim Y, Choi K, Jung J, Park S, Kim PG, Park J. Aquatic toxicity of acetaminophen, carbamazepine, cimetidine, diltiazem and six major sulfonamides, and their potential ecological risks in Korea. Environ Int. 2007; 33(3): 370-375.   DOI   ScienceOn
5 Kumar A, Chang B, Xagoraraki I. Human health risk assessment of pharmaceuticals in water: issues and challenges ahead. Int. J Environ Res Publ Health. 2010; 7(11): 3929-3953.   DOI   ScienceOn
6 Korea Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association. Statistics of Korea Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association. 2010. p.5-6.
7 Kumar A, Xagoraraki I. Pharmaceuticals, personal care products and endocrine-disrupting chemicals in U.S. surface and finished drinking waters: A proposed ranking system. Sci Total Environ. 2010; 408(23): 5972-5989.   DOI   ScienceOn
8 Kim SD, Cho J, Kim IS, Vanderford BJ, Snyder SA. Occurrence and removal of pharmaceuticals and endocrine disruptors in South Korean surface, drinking, and waste waters. Water Res. 2007; 41(5): 1013-1021.   DOI   ScienceOn
9 Huerta-Fontela M, Galceran MT, Ventura F. Occurrence and removal of pharmaceuticals and hormones through drinking water treatment. Water Res. 2011; 45 (3): 1432-1442.   DOI   ScienceOn
10 Westerhoff P, Yoon Y, Snyder S, Wert E. Fate of endocrine-disruptor, pharmaceutical, and personal care product chemicals during simulated drinking water treatment processes. Environ Sci Technol. 2005; 39(17): 6649-6663.   DOI   ScienceOn
11 Stackelberg PE, Gibs J, Furlong ET, Meyer MT, Zaugg SD, Lippincott RL. Efficiency of conventional drinking-water-treatment processes in removal of pharmaceuticals and other organic compounds. Sci Total Environ. 2007; 377(2-3): 255-272.   DOI   ScienceOn
12 Halling-Sorensen B, Nors Nielsen S, Lanzky P, Ingerslev F, Holten Ltzhoft H, Jorgensen S, Occurrence, fate and effects of pharmaceutical substances in the environment-a review. Chemosphere. 1998; 36(2): 357-393.   DOI   ScienceOn
13 United states environmental protection agency. Water: contaminants of emerging concern. Available: http://water.epa.gov/scitech/cec. [accessed 9 August 2013].
14 Adams C, Wang Y, Loftin K, Meyer M. Removal of antibiotics from surface and distilled water in conventional water treatment processes. J Environ Eng. 2002; 128 (3): 253-260.   DOI   ScienceOn
15 European environment agency. Environmental terminology and discovery service (ETDS). Available: http: // glossary.eea. europa.eu./termiology/concept_ html?term=micropollutant. [accessed 9 July 2013].
16 Network of reference laboratories for monitoring of emerging environmental pollutions in Europe. Why do we need to address emerging substances ? Available: http://www.norman-network.net/index_php.php? module=public/about_us/comment_substances&menu2 =public/about_us/about_us. [accessed 9 August 2013].
17 International environment forum. IEF sustapedia an encyclopedia of sustainability. Available: http:// www.bcca.org/ief/sustapedia/spmicropollutant.htm. [accessed 9 August 2013].
18 Thomas PM, Foster GD. Tracking acidic pharmaceuticals, caffeine, and triclosan through the wastewater treatment process. Environ Toxicol. 2005; 24(1): 25-30.   DOI   ScienceOn
19 Prevedouros K, Cousins IT, Buck RC, Korzeniowski SH. Sources, fate and transport of perfluorocarboxylates. Environ Sci Technol. 2006; 40(1): 32-44.   DOI   ScienceOn
20 Birkett JW, Lester JN. Endocrine disrupters in wastewater and sludge treatment processes. CRC Press: 2003. p. 5-7.
21 Heberer T, Reddersen K, Mechlinski A. From municipal sewage to drinking water: fate and removal of pharmaceutical residues in the aquatic environment in urban areas. Water Sci Technol. 2002; 46(3): 81-88.
22 Caliman FA, Gavrilescu M. Pharmaceuticals, personal care products and endocrine disrupting agents in the environment a review. CLEAN. 2009; 37(4-5): 277-303.
23 Nguyen LN, Hai FI, Kang J, Nghiem LD, Price WE, Guo W et al. Comparison between sequential and simultaneous application of activated carbon with membrane bioreactor for trace organic contaminant removal. Bioresour Technol. 2012; 130: 412-417.
24 Assmuth T, Louekari K. Research for management of environmental risks from endocrine disruptors, 448. The Finnish Environment: environmental protection; 2001. p.82-84.
25 Hazardous substances data bank. Comprehensive, peer-reviewed toxicology data for about 5,000 chemicals. Available: http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgibin/ sis/htmlgen?HSDB. [accessed 31 July 2013].
26 World Health Organization. IARC Monographs on the evaluation of carcinogenic risks to humans. Vol. 79, spplement 7. 1987. p.365-370.
27 Rogers HR. Sources, behaviour and fate of organic contaminants during sewage treatment and in sewage sludges. Sci Total Environ. 1996; 185(1-3): 3-26.   DOI   ScienceOn
28 Richardson ML, Bowron JM. The fate of pharmaceutical chemicals in the aquatic environment. J Pharm Pharmacol. 1985; 37(1): 1-12.   DOI
29 Zoeteman B, Harmsen K, Linders J, Morra C, Slooff W. Persistent organic pollutants in river water and ground water of the Netherlands. Chemosphere. 1980; 9: 231-249.   DOI   ScienceOn
30 Gledhill W. Biodegradation of 3, 4, 4'-trichlorocarbanilide, TCC in sewage and activated sludge. Water Res. 1975; 9(7): 649-654.   DOI   ScienceOn
31 Grundwasser KiBO-u, Heberer T, Schmidt-Bumler K, Stan H. Occurrence and distribution of organic contaminants in the aquatic system in Berlin. Part I: Drug residues and other polar contaminants in Berlin surface and groundwater. Acta hydrochim hydrobiol. 1998; 26(5): 272-278.   DOI
32 McLachlan J, Guillette L, Iguchi Jr T, Toscano J. Fate and analysis of pharmaceutical residues in the aquatic environment. Ann NY Acad Sci. 2001; 948:153.
33 Gregory J, Duan J. Hydrolyzing metal salts as coagulants. Pure Appl Chem. 2001; 73(12): 2017-2026.   DOI   ScienceOn
34 Gibs, J, Stackelberg PE, Furlong ET, Meyer M, Zaugg SD, Lippincott RL. Persistence of pharmaceuticals and other organic compounds in chlorinated drinking water as a function of time. Sci Total Environ. 2007; 373(1): 240-249.   DOI   ScienceOn
35 Benotti M, Trenholm R, Vanderford B, Holady J, Stanford B, Snyder S. Pharmaceuticals and endocrine disrupting compounds in US drinking water. Environ Sci Technol. 2009; 43(3): 597-603.   DOI   ScienceOn
36 Boleda MR, Galceran MT, Ventura F. Behavior of pharmaceuticals and drugs of abuse in a drinking water treatment plant (DWTP) using combined conventional and ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis (UF/RO) treatments. Environ Pollut. 2011; 159(6): 1584-1591.   DOI   ScienceOn
37 Duan J, Gregory J. Coagulation by hydrolysing metal salts. Adv Colloid Interface Sci. 2003; 100-102: 475-502.   DOI   ScienceOn
38 Ye C, Wang D, Shi B, Yu J, Qu J, Edwards M, et al. Alkalinity effect of coagulation with polyaluminum chlorides: Role of electrostatic patch. Colloids Surf., A 2007; 294(1-3): 163-173.   DOI   ScienceOn
39 Ternes TA, Meisenheimer M, McDowell D, Sacher F, Brauch HJ, Haist-Gulde B et al. Removal of Pharmaceuticals during Drinking Water Treatment. Environ Sci Technol. 2002; 36(17): 3855-3863.   DOI   ScienceOn
40 Choi KJ, Kim SG, Kim SH. Removal of antibiotics by coagulation and granular activated carbon filtration. J Hazard Mater. 2008; 151(1): 38-43.   DOI   ScienceOn
41 Alexander JT, Hai FI, Al-aboud TM. Chemical coagulation-based processes for trace organic contaminant removal: Current state and future potential. J Environ Manage. 2012; 111(30): 195-207.   DOI   ScienceOn
42 Carballa M, Omil F, Lema J. Removal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) from municipal wastewaters by physico-chemical processes. Elec J Env Agricult Food Chem. 2003; 2(2): 309-313.
43 Huerta-Fontela M, Galceran MT, Ventura F. Stimulatory drugs of abuse in surface waters and their removal in a conventional drinking water treatment plant. Environ Sci Technol. 2008; 42(18): 6809-6816.   DOI   ScienceOn
44 Vieno N. Occurrence of pharmaceuticals in Finnish sewage treatment plants, surface waters, and their elimination in drinking water treatment processes. Tampere University of Technology. Publication;666. 2007. p.28-34.
45 Carballa M, Omil F, Lema JM. Removal of cosmetic ingredients and pharmaceuticals in sewage primary treatment. Water Res. 2005; 39(19): 4790-4796.   DOI   ScienceOn
46 Suarez S, Lema JM, Omil, F. Pre-treatment of hospital wastewater by coagulation flocculation and flotation. Bioresour Technol. 2009; 100(7): 2138-2146.   DOI   ScienceOn
47 Roccaro P, Sgroi M, Vagliasindi FG. Removal of xenobiotic compounds from wastewater for environment protection: treatment processes and costs. Chem eng trans. 2013; 32: 505-510.
48 Stumm W, Morgan JJ, Drever JI. Aquatic chemistry. J Environ Qual. 1996; 25(5): 1162.
49 Snyder SA, Adham S, Redding AM, Cannon FS, DeCarolis J, Oppenheimer J, et al. Role of membranes and activated carbon in the removal of endocrine disruptors and pharmaceuticals. Desalination. 2007; 202(1): 156-181.   DOI   ScienceOn
50 Choi KJ, Kim SG, Kim CW, Park JK. Removal efficiencies of endocrine disrupting chemicals by coagulation/flocculation, ozonation, powdered/granular activated carbon adsorption, and chlorination. Korean J Chem Eng. 2006; 23(3): 399-408.   DOI   ScienceOn
51 Yu Z, Peldszus S, Huck PM. Adsorption characteristics of selected pharmaceuticals and an endocrine disrupting $compound^{\circ}^{TM}$Naproxen, carbamazepine and $nonylphenol^{\circ}^{TM}$on activated carbon. Water res. 2008; 42(12): 2873-2882.   DOI   ScienceOn
52 Summers RS, Roberts PV. Activated carbon adsorption of humic substances: I. Heterodisperse mixtures and desorption. J. Colloid Interf. Sci. 1988; 122(2): 367-381.   DOI   ScienceOn
53 Avdeef A. Absorption and drug development: solubility, permeability, and charge state. 2nd ed. Wiley: 2012. p.31-34.
54 Cantrell KJ, Serne RJ, Last GV. Applicability of the linear sorption isotherm model to represent contaminant transport processes in site-wide performance assessments. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Technical report PNNL-14576. 2003. p.1-6.
55 Hari AC, Paruchuri RA, Sabatini DA, Kibbey TC. Effects of pH and cationic and nonionic surfactants on the adsorption of pharmaceuticals to a natural aquifer material. Environ Sci Technol. 2005; 39(8): 2592-2598.   DOI   ScienceOn
56 Rossner A, Snyder SA, Knappe, DR. Removal of emerging contaminants of concern by alternative adsorbents. Water res. 2009; 43(15): 3787-3796.   DOI   ScienceOn
57 Richardson SD. Disinfection by-products and other emerging contaminants in drinking water. Trends Anal Chem. 2003; 22(10): 666-684.   DOI   ScienceOn
58 Yiasoumi W. Water disinfecting techniques for plant pathogen control. Combined proceedings-IPPS. 2005; 55: .138.
59 Jolley RL, Gorchev H, Hamilton JrD. Water chlorination: environmental impact and health effects. Volume 2 Ann Arbor Science Publishers, Inc Ann Arbor, MI: 1978. p.78-220
60 Heasley VL, Anderson ME, Combes DS, Elias DS, Gardner JT, Hernandez ML, et al. Investigations of the structure and reactions of the intermediate in the chlorination of resorcinol. Environ Toxicol Chem. 1993; 12(9): 1653-1659.   DOI
61 Gallard H, von Gunten U. Chlorination of phenols: Kinetics and formation of chloroform. Environ Sci Technol. 2002; 36(5): 884-890.   DOI   ScienceOn
62 Pinkston KE, Sedlak DL. Transformation of aromatic ether-and amine-containing pharmaceuticals during chlorine disinfection. Environ Sci Technol. 2004; 38(14): 4019-4025.   DOI   ScienceOn
63 Sim WJ, Lee JW, Oh JE. Occurrence and fate of pharmaceuticals in wastewater treatment plants and rivers in Korea. Environ Pollut. 2010; 158(5): 1938-1947.   DOI   ScienceOn
64 Bedner M, MacCrehan WA. Transformation of acetaminophen by chlorination produces the toxicants 1, 4-benzoquinone and N-acetyl-p-benzoquinone imine. Environ Sci Technol. 2006; 40(2): 516-522.   DOI   ScienceOn
65 Quintana JB, Rodil R, Lpez-Maha P, Muniategui- Lorenzo S, Prada-Rodrguez D. Investigating the chlorination of acidic pharmaceuticals and by-product formation aided by an experimental design methodology. Water Res. 2010; 44(1): 243-255.   DOI   ScienceOn
66 Dodd MC, Huang CH. Transformation of the antibacterial agent sulfamethoxazole in reactions with chlorine: kinetics, mechanisms, and pathways. Environ Sci Technol. 2004; 38(21): 5607-5615.   DOI   ScienceOn
67 Melton TC, Brown SD. The fate of sulfamethazine in sodium-hypochlorite-treated drinking water: monitoring by LC-$MS^{n}$-IT-TOF. J Med Chem. 2012; 2012: 1-6.
68 Yamamoto T, Yasuhara A. Chlorination of bisphenol A in aqueous media: formation of chlorinated bisphenol A congeners and degradation to chlorinated phenolic compounds. Chemosphere. 2002; 46(8): 1215-1223.   DOI   ScienceOn
69 Sojic D, Despotovi V, Ori D, Szab E, Arany E, Armakovi S, et al. Degradation of thiamethoxam and metoprolol by UV, $O_{3}$ and UV/$O_{3}$ hybrid processes: Kinetics, degradation intermediates and toxicity. J Hydrol. 2012; 472-473: 314-327.   DOI   ScienceOn
70 Hu JY, Xie GH, Aizawa T. Products of aqueous chlorination of 4-nonylphenol and their estrogenic activity. Environ Toxicol Chem. 2002; 21(10): 2034- 2039.   DOI   ScienceOn