Pollution Pathways of Pharmaceutical Residues in the Aquatic Environment on the Island of Mallorca, Spain

Carlos Rodríguez-Navas, Erland Björklund, Søren Alex Bak, Martin Hansen, Kristine Andersen Krogh, Fernando Maya, Rafael Forteza, Víctor Cerdà

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Abstract

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.
Original languageEnglish
JournalArchives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology
Volume61
Issue number1
Pages (from-to)56-66
ISSN0090-4341
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2013

Keywords

  • Former Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences

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