Title:

The Fate and Removal of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products within Wastewater Treatment Facilities discharging upstream from the Great Bay Estuary

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are contaminants of emerging concern that derive primarily from combined sewer overflows and discharges from industrial and municipal wastewater treatment facilities (WWTFs). Some PPCPs may exhibit a wide range of health or behavioral effects in aquatic life (e.g., neural, instinct response, reproductive) at part per billion levels while others may bioaccumulate, amplifying effects up the food chain. In collaboration with six local WWTFs, we have: (1) investigated concentrations for 21 PPCPs occurring in WWTFs discharging into the Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve and (2) examined differences in WWTF design influencing the removal of select PPCPs. The six WWTFs highlight different secondary treatment designs and disinfection methods to better understand the treatment mechanisms associated with PPCP removal. Samples were taken at influent and effluent locations as well as intermediate steps to not only estimate the percent removal per compound but to also document the change in PPCP concentrations along the treatment train. This provided insight to elucidate the most effective treatment method for reducing PPCPs in the effluent. The preliminary results from two phases of sampling (March; n = 12 & July; n = 20) indicate that all 21 PPCPs were detected either in the influent, effluent, or both at each WWTF. Also, WWTFs with an enhanced biological treatment and longer sludge retention times (SRTs) resulted in higher overall PPCP removal. Due to the widespread use of PPCPs and their incomplete removal from WWTFs, the literature lists 13 of the 21 PPCPs as ‘most frequently detected’ in surface waters. In total, six surface water samples were collected across the Great Bay estuary resulting in 9 of the 13 frequently detected PPCPs being present, confirming previously reported observations, and 14 PPCPs being detected overall. Understanding the fate of PPCPs in conventional WWTFs is important to protecting coastal ecosystems and supporting long-term stewardship of our marine resources.

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