TY - JOUR
T1 - Pollution Pathways of Pharmaceutical Residues in the Aquatic Environment on the Island of Mallorca, Spain
AU - Rodríguez-Navas, Carlos
AU - Björklund, Erland
AU - Bak, Søren Alex
AU - Hansen, Martin
AU - Krogh, Kristine Andersen
AU - Maya, Fernando
AU - Forteza, Rafael
AU - Cerdà, Víctor
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - This work determines the principal environmental pollution pathways of pharmaceuticals on the island of Mallorca (Spain). The evaluation was made on the basis of the quantification of pharmaceutical residues by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry in several environmental water samples, including wastewater-treatment plant effluents, municipal solid waste landfill leachates, groundwater (GW), and marine water. An overall set of 19 pharmaceuticals has been identified in the environment of the 27 human pharmaceuticals investigated in this study. WWTP effluents are the main source of discharge of the pharmaceuticals into the aquatic environment. The data indicate that reuse of treated domestic wastewater for irrigation (which supplies some 30 % of the total water demand in Mallorca) contributes to the contamination of GW. In addition, leaching from landfills is identified as another, but minor, possible source of introduction of pharmaceuticals to GW aquifers. Finally, WWTP effluents ending in the Mediterranean Sea, primarily highly urbanized coastal areas, cause pharmaceutical residues to occur in marine water bodies.
AB - This work determines the principal environmental pollution pathways of pharmaceuticals on the island of Mallorca (Spain). The evaluation was made on the basis of the quantification of pharmaceutical residues by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry in several environmental water samples, including wastewater-treatment plant effluents, municipal solid waste landfill leachates, groundwater (GW), and marine water. An overall set of 19 pharmaceuticals has been identified in the environment of the 27 human pharmaceuticals investigated in this study. WWTP effluents are the main source of discharge of the pharmaceuticals into the aquatic environment. The data indicate that reuse of treated domestic wastewater for irrigation (which supplies some 30 % of the total water demand in Mallorca) contributes to the contamination of GW. In addition, leaching from landfills is identified as another, but minor, possible source of introduction of pharmaceuticals to GW aquifers. Finally, WWTP effluents ending in the Mediterranean Sea, primarily highly urbanized coastal areas, cause pharmaceutical residues to occur in marine water bodies.
KW - Former Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences
KW - 27 human pharmaceuticals
KW - environmental water samples
KW - principal environmental pollution pathways
U2 - 10.1007/s00244-013-9880-x
DO - 10.1007/s00244-013-9880-x
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 23440447
VL - 61
SP - 56
EP - 66
JO - Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology
JF - Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology
SN - 0090-4341
IS - 1
ER -