Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 1
Assessing the Discharge of Pharmaceuticals
Along the Dutch Coast of the North Sea
N. Walraven and R.W.P.M. Laane
Contents
1
Introduction..........................................................................................................................
1
2
Methods: Data Inventory and Emissions Calculations ........................................................
3
2.1
Data Inventory.............................................................................................................
3
2.2
Load Calculations .......................................................................................................
4
3
Results: Pharmaceutical Emissions in the Netherlands .......................................................
6
3.1
Occurrence and Loads of Pharmaceuticals in Surface-, Sewage-,
and Industrial Water in the Netherlands......................................................................
6
3.2
Mass Balance of Pharmaceutical Loads .....................................................................
12
3.3
Pharmaceuticals Versus OSPAR Priority Substances .................................................
13
3.4
Environmental Impact of Discharged Pharmaceuticals ..............................................
13
4
Summary ..............................................................................................................................
15
References..................................................................................................................................
16
1
Introduction
The presence of pharmaceutical chemicals in the environment was mentioned in the
late 1970s by Highnite and Azarnoff (1977), and in the mid-1980s by Richardson
and Bowron (1985) and Rogers et al. (1986). However, little attention was paid to
these substances as potential environmental pollutants until the early 1990s (Weigel
2003). Stan and Linkerhägner (1992) were among the first to identify high concen-
trations of clofibric acid, a metabolite of the lipid-regulating agents of the pharma-
ceuticals clofibrate and etofibrate in groundwater. Several research groups studied
and reported the presence of a vast array of pharmaceutical residues, often called
PPCPs (pharmaceutical and personal care products) (Carbella et al. 2007), in
municipal wastewater, surface water, groundwater, and drinking water at nanogram
per liter (ng L
−1
) to microgram per liter (µg L
−1
) concentration levels (Stan et al.
1994; Hirsch et al. 1996, 1999; Stan and Heberer 1996; Stumpf et al. 1996; Buser
