Acesulfame-K and pharmaceuticals as co-tracers of municipal wastewater in a receiving river
Abstract
Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents are important sources of emerging contaminants at environmentally-relevant concentrations. In this study, water samples were collected from a river downstream of two WWTPs to identify practical tracers for tracking wastewater. The results of the study indicate elevated concentrations of Cl(-), nutrients (NH3-N and NO2(-)), the artificial sweetener acesulfame-K (ACE-K), and the pharmaceuticals carbamazepine (CBZ), caffeine (CAF), sulfamethoxazole (SMX), ibuprofen (IBU), gemfibrozil (GEM), and naproxen (NAP) in the river close to the WWTPs that decreased with distance downstream. A correlation analysis using the Spearman Rank method showed that ACE-K, CBZ, GEM, NAP, and Cl(-) were strongly correlated with each other over a 31 km stretch of the river in the study area. The strong correlations of these target compounds indicate that the artificial sweetener ACE-K and the pharmaceuticals CBZ, GEM, and NAP can potentially be used as co-tracers to track wastewater.
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Acesulfame concentrations have previously been correlated with concentrations of PFASs in Swiss rivers, three pharmaceuticals in a wastewater-impacted river in Canada, two pharmaceuticals in groundwater impacted by septic systems, and two pharmaceuticals and a nicotine metabolite in groundwater impacted by a municipal wastewater plume.
“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 Liu et al., 2014
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References 51 · Cited by 45
- Authors
- Liu, Y., Blowes, D. W., Groza, L., Sabourin, M. J., & Ptacek, C. J.
- Affiliations
- University of Waterloo (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Ptacek, Carol J.
- Venue
- Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts
- Publisher
- Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
- Published
- 2014
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 2789-2795
- ISSN
- 2050-7887 (ISSN-L)
- 2050-7895
- OpenAlex
- W2077675248
- Cited by
- 45
- References
- 51
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 3.05
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Environmental Science Processes & Impacts (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Water Quality and Pollution Assessment
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Effects and risks of endocrine disrupting chemicals
- Keywords
- acesulfame-K, pharmaceuticals, municipal wastewater, wastewater treatment plant effluent, carbamazepine, gemfibrozil, naproxen, sulfamethoxazole, ibuprofen, caffeine, chloride, emerging contaminants, river water quality
- MeSH terms
- Pharmaceutical Preparations, Environmental Monitoring, Thiazines, Water Pollutants, Chemical, Rivers, Wastewater
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