Pharmaceuticals in On‐Site Sewage Effluent and Ground Water, Western Montana
- 12 March 2007
- journal article
- Published by Wiley in Groundwater
- Vol. 45 (3), 263-271
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6584.2006.00288.x
Abstract
Human use of pharmaceuticals results in the excretion and disposal of compounds that become part of municipal and domestic waste streams. On-site waste water disposal and leaking city sewer systems can provide avenues for the migration of effluent to the underlying aquifers. This research assessed the occurrence and persistence of 22 target pharmaceuticals in septic tank effluent and two shallow, coarse-grained aquifers in western Montana. Twelve compounds (acetaminophen, caffeine, codeine, carbamazepine, cotinine, erythromycin-18, nicotine, paraxanthine, ranitidine, sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, and warfarin) were detected in a high school septic tank effluent. Three of the 12 compounds, carbamazepine, sulfamethoxazole, and nicotine, were detected in the underlying sand and gravel aquifer after effluent percolation through a 2.0-m thick sand vadose zone. Sampling of a second sand, gravel, and cobble dominated unconfined aquifer, partially overlain by septic systems and a city sewer system, revealed the presence of caffeine, carbamazepine, cotinine, nicotine, and trimethoprim. The presence of carbamazepine and sulfamethoxazole in these aquifers appears to correlate with local usage based on a reported monthly prescription volume. This work highlights the need for expanding geochemical investigations of sewage waste impacted ground water systems to include sampling for selected pharmaceuticals.Keywords
This publication has 30 references indexed in Scilit:
- Household Disposal of Pharmaceuticals as a Pathway for Aquatic Contamination in the United KingdomEnvironmental Health Perspectives, 2005
- Removal of Pharmaceuticals in Sewage Treatment Plants in ItalyEnvironmental Science & Technology, 2005
- Determination of pharmaceutical compounds in surface- and ground-water samples by solid-phase extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization mass spectrometryJournal of Chromatography A, 2004
- Carbamazepine as a possible anthropogenic marker in the aquatic environment: investigations on the behaviour of Carbamazepine in wastewater treatment and during groundwater infiltrationWater Research, 2004
- Caffeine, an Anthropogenic Marker for Wastewater Contamination of Surface WatersEnvironmental Science & Technology, 2003
- Comparison of chemical cleaning methods of glass in preparation for silanizationBiosensors and Bioelectronics, 1999
- Occurrence and Environmental Behavior of the Chiral Pharmaceutical Drug Ibuprofen in Surface Waters and in WastewaterEnvironmental Science & Technology, 1999
- Pharmaceuticals in the Environment—A Human Risk?Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology, 1998
- Virus Occurrence and Transport in a School Septic System and Unconfined AquiferGroundwater, 1998
- Organic indicators of groundwater pollution by a sanitary landfillWater Research, 1986