Removal of low-calorie sweeteners at five Brazilian wastewater treatment plants and their occurrence in surface water.

The consumption of low-calorie sweeteners (LCSs) such as acesulfame (ACE), sucralose (SUC), saccharin (SAC), cyclamate (CYC), aspartame (ASP), neotame (NEO), and stevioside (STV) is increasing worldwide to meet the demand for reduced-calorie foods and beverages. However, there are no consumption data available in Brazil, as well as their concentration in sewage and removal on wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). In the present study, ACE, SUC, SAC, CYC, ASP, NEO, and STV were assessed at five WWTPs located in the metropolitan region of Campinas (São Paulo State, Brazil), in operation with different treatment processes. Surface water was also analyzed. Analyses were carried out by on-line solid-phase extraction ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The major points are the following: LCS concentrations in the influents ranged from 0.25 to 189 µg L-1 and followed the order CYC > ACE > SAC > SUC. NEO, ASP, and STV were not detected at any sampling site. Sweetener concentrations in the WWTP outputs differed mainly due to the different treatment setups employed. CYC and SAC were completely removed by biodegradation-based processes, while ACE removal was favored by the anaerobic-anoxic-aerobic process. SUC presented the highest concentration in the treated sewage, even at the WWTP operating with ultrafiltration membranes and therefore could be a marker compound for evaluation of the efficiency of removal of contaminants in WWTPs. Risk quotient estimation, using the PNEC and MEC values, indicated that the levels of the LCS reported here were harmless to the biota. The consumption of ACE, CYC, SAC, and SUC was estimated to be 2634 t year-1.

Tracking the occurrence of psychotropic pharmaceuticals in Brazilian wastewater treatment plants and surface water, with assessment of environmental risks.

According to the World Health Organization, >360 million people worldwide suffer from mental diseases such as depression, anxiety, or bipolar disorder, for which psychotropic drugs are frequently prescribed. Despite being highly metabolized in the human organism, non-metabolized portions of these drugs are excreted, subsequently reaching wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), where they may be incompletely removed during treatment, leading to the contamination of surface waters. In this work, ten psychotropic drugs widely consumed in Brazil (alprazolam, amitriptyline, bupropion, carbamazepine, clonazepam, escitalopram, fluoxetine, nortriptyline, sertraline, and trazadone) were monitored at five WWTPs located in the metropolitan region of Campinas (São Paulo State, Brazil). The drugs were determined in the influents, at different stages of the treatments, and in the effluents. Surface waters from the Atibaia River and the Anhumas Creek were also monitored. Quantitation of the pharmaceuticals was carried out by online solid-phase extraction coupled with ultra-high performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry. The method was validated and presented a limit of quantitation of 50 ng L-1 for all the drugs assessed. Six of the substances monitored were quantified in the samples collected from the different treatment processes employed at the WWTPs. These technologies were unable to act as barriers for these psychotropics drugs. The concentrations ranged from 50 to 3000 ng L-1 in the WWTP effluents, while the main contaminants were found in surface waters at concentrations from 25 to 3530 ng L-1. The levels of the psychotropic detected in this work did not appear to present risks to the aquatic biota.

Benzimidazoles in wastewater: Analytical method development, monitoring and degradation by photolysis and ozonation.

Pharmaceutical residues are constantly released into natural waters, mainly from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) whose processes are unable to completely eliminate them. Among these drugs, the occurrence of benzimidazoles, a class of antiparasitics for human and veterinary use, has been reported in WWTP effluents and surface waters. In this study, an SPE-UHPLC-MS/MS method was developed and optimized for extraction and quantitation of benzimidazoles in influents and effluents of a local WWTP and in hospital wastewater. The extraction procedure was optimized using response surface methodology (Box-Behnken design) and the optimal parameters were as follows: 2.0 mL of loading solvent consisting of a mixture of water:methanol (95:5, v/v) and temperature at 43 °C. In hospital wastewater, albendazole (ABZ) and its principal metabolite ricobendazole (RBZ) were the main benzimidazole-related contaminants and were found at concentrations of up to 3810 and 3894 ng L-1, respectively. The WWTP system was able to remove from 46% to 95% of the ABZ quantified in the influent, discharging an effluent with 16-441 ng L-1 of ABZ. The concentrations of other benzimidazoles and metabolites in the WWTP effluents remained below 350 ng L-1. WWTP effluents fortified with 50 µg L-1 of ABZ required 26.7 mgO3 L-1 to remove ABZ and RBZ. After ozonation, the COD and BOD5 of the effluents were reduced by 27%. Photolysis by UVA radiation was not effective to remove ABZ and FBZ from the effluent samples.

On-line solid-phase extraction-ultra high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for the determination of avermectins and milbemycin in soils.

Avermectins and milbemycin are widely used as veterinary drugs and as agricultural pesticides, and their residues have been detected in soil. This study reports a simple and high-throughput method for determining ivermectin (IVER), abamectin (ABA), doramectin (DORA), eprinomectin (EPRI), and moxidectin (MOXI) residues in soils, employing an on-line solid-phase extraction technique coupled with ultra-high performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry (SPE-UHPLC-MS/MS). The method was validated and applied for the determination of ABA in soils from an orange plantation treated with this pesticide. The sample preparation procedure consisted of extraction of the compounds from soil using methanol (with recoveries of 73-85%), and subsequent on-line SPE cleanup and concentration using a C8 sorbent coupled to the UHPLC-MS/MS system. The optimal conditions were: water:methanol (40:60, v/v) sample solvent; water:methanol (96:4, v/v) loading solvent; 2×250µL sample volume; and elution of the analytes retained on the SPE column in back flush with 5mmolL-1 ammonium acetate:acetonitrile (10:90, v/v) chromatographic mobile phase. The method produced linear results in the ranges 0.1-10ngg-1 (IVER, ABA, DORA, and MOXI) and 0.5-10ngg-1 (EPRI), with linearity greater than 0.99. The precision of the method was better than 19% and accuracy was in the range 74-89%. The limits of quantitation were 0.2ngg-1 for EPRI and 0.1ngg-1 for the other compounds. The SPE column could be reused in more than 2000 analyses without loss of efficiency. The ABA concentration in the soil varied between 1.7 and 18ngg-1, and no dissipation was observed during five consecutive days after application of the pesticide to the orange plantation.

On-line solid phase extraction-ultra high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry as a powerful technique for the determination of sulfonamide residues in soils.

Sulfonamides are antimicrobials used widely as veterinary drugs, and their residues have been detected in environmental matrices. An analytical method for determining sulfadiazine, sulfathiazole, sulfamethazine, sulfamethoxazole, sulfadimethoxine and sulfaquinoxaline residues in soils employing a solid phase extraction on-line technique coupled with ultra-high performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry (SPE-UHPLC-MS/MS) was developed and validated in this study. SPE and chromatographic separation were performed using an Oasis HLB column and an Acquity UPLC BEH C18 analytical column, respectively, at 40°C. Samples were prepared by extracting sulfonamides from soil using a solid-liquid extraction method with water:acetonitrile, 1:1v/v (recovery of 70.2-99.9%). The following parameters were evaluated to optimize the on-line SPE process: sorbent type (Oasis and C8), sample volume (100-400µL), loading solvent (water and different proportions of water:methanol) and washing volume (0.19-0.66mL). The method produced linear results for all sulfonamides from 0.5 to 12.5ngg(-1) with a linearity greater than 0.99. The precision of the method was less than 15%, and the matrix effect was -27% to -87%. The accuracy was in the range of 77-112% for all sulfonamides. The limit of quantitation in the two soils (clay and sand) was 0.5ngg(-1). The SPE column allowed for the analysis of many (more than 2000) samples without decreasing the efficiency.