The DOI matches its Crossref record; 39 of the 40 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
An artificial sweetener and pharmaceutical compounds as co-tracers of urban wastewater in groundwater
Abstract
Groundwater in urban areas can be affected by numerous wastewater sources. Distinguishing these sources can facilitate better management of urban water resources and wastewater, and protection of urban aquatic environments. A single wastewater tracer, even if ideal (i.e. low background levels, non-reactive, low detection limits, etc.), would be unable to accomplish this task. Here, we investigated the potential advantages of using a suite of anthropogenic chemicals as co-tracers to distinguish wastewater sources that contribute to groundwater contamination at two urban sites. We considered both relatively ubiquitous and non-ubiquitous tracers in wastewater. At the Jasper (Alberta, Canada) site, concentrations of an artificial sweetener, two pharmaceutical compounds, and a degradate of nicotine in groundwater were strongly correlated as co-tracers. This evidence, along with the similar spatial distributions of these co-tracers could be used to delineate and distinguish a single municipal wastewater plume. At the Barrie (Ontario, Canada) site, there was moderate to strong correlation of the wastewater co-tracers, but local differences in their distributions and in the ratios of their concentrations could be used to infer that mixtures of two or more domestic septic plumes were present in the groundwater at this site. This study demonstrates the benefit of applying a suite of tracers to urban groundwater affected by wastewater contamination. This approach should be applicable at other urban sites.
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“Acesulfame concentrations have previously been correlated with concentrations of: PFASs in Swiss rivers (Müller et al., 2011); three pharmaceuticals (carbamazepine, gemfibrozil, naproxen) in a wastewater-impacted river in Canada (Liu et al., 2014); two pharmaceuticals (carbamazepine, sulfamethoxazole) in groundwater impacted by septic systems; and two pharmaceuticals (carbamazepine, primidone) and”
From Septic systems as sources of organic wastewater compounds in domestic drinking water wells in a shallow sand and gravel aquifer (2016) · cites this paper as Van Stempvoort et al., 2013
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Enzymatic degradation of recalcitrant pharmaceutical micropollutants
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Syringe‐Tip Filters May Contain the Artificial Sweetener Saccharin
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Zhang, Y. (2016) · DalSpace (Dalhousie University)
Liu, Y. (2017) · UWSpace (University of Waterloo)
Lifestyle Products as Emerging Pollutants
Calvo‐Flores, F. G., Isac-Garcéa, J., & Dobado, J. A. (2017) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9783527691203.ch8
Assessment of Water Quality and Quantity of Springs at a Pilot‐Scale
Doummar, J., Fahs, M., Aoun, M., ElGhawi, R., Othman, J., Alali, M., & Kassem, A. H. (2022) · Geophysical monograph · doi:10.1002/9781119818625.ch8 · Cited by 2
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Lackey, R., Roy, J. W., Mackie, C., & Levison, J. K. (2026) · Environmental Monitoring and Assessment · doi:10.1007/s10661-026-14994-y
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Djieugoue, B., Nlend, B., Boum-Nkot, S. N., Zouari, K., Trabelsi, R., Nasr, W. B., Étamé, J., & Huneau, F. (2026) · Journal of Hydrology · doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2026.136528
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Metadata
- Authors
- Van Stempvoort, D. R., Roy, J. W., Grabuski, J., Brown, S. J., Bickerton, G., & Sverko, E.
- Affiliations
- Environment and Climate Change Canada (CA)
- Venue
- Science of The Total Environment
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2013-09
- Volume
- 461-462
- Pages
- 348-359
- ISSN
- 0048-9697 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2145197059
- Cited by
- 121
- References
- 40
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 3
- FWCI
- 7.80
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Science of The Total Environment (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geochemistry and Petrology › Groundwater and Isotope Geochemistry
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Water Quality and Pollution Assessment
- Keywords
- groundwater contamination, municipal wastewater, artificial sweeteners, pharmaceutical compounds
- MeSH terms
- Alberta, Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid, Cities, Pharmaceutical Preparations, Environmental Monitoring, Ontario, Sweetening Agents, Tandem Mass Spectrometry, Groundwater, Wastewater
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