{"title":"Revealing the underestimated risks of pharmaceutical transformation products in wastewater by suspect and targeted screening","authors":"Gang Wu , Yuli Qian , Chunqiu Zhang , Hongqiang Ren , Jinju Geng","doi":"10.1016/j.watres.2025.123265","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Transformation products (TPs) of pharmaceuticals have raised great concerns due to the extensive detection and potentially higher concentration and toxicity than parents. However, the related knowledge on TPs of pharmaceuticals in wastewater were limited. To fill this gap, suspect screening workflow was developed to identify TPs from 28 pharmaceuticals in 12 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) located in Yangtze River Delta region of China. Based on the developed suspect lists included structural information and predicted retention time for 1643 TPs, 67 TPs were successfully identified at confidence levels of ≥3 and 61.12 % of them originated from non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Subsequently, target screening revealed that 4‑hydroxy-diclofenac, diclofenac-benzoic acid, N-demethylation tramadol, 10,11-dihydro-10-dihydroxycarbamazepine and 10,11-dihydro-10,11-epoxycarbamazepine exhibited high concentration up to μg/L in WWTPs. Comparatively, the cumulative concentration of TPs was higher than parents of pharmaceuticals in effluent of WWTPs. In addition, the predicted results revealed that 29.85 %, 82.09 % and 19.91 % TPs have higher toxicity, persistence and bioaccumulation than parents. Furthermore, diclofenac-benzoic acid and 10,11-dihydro-10,11-epoxycarbamazepine exhibited higher eco-risks than their corresponding parents and N-demethylation tramadol was found to be with moderated eco-risks in effluent of WWTRPs. Collectively, the present study provides holistic information on TPs for 28 pharmaceuticals in wastewater and highlights the importance for TPs of pharmaceuticals in WWTPs from the aspect of concentration, toxicity and eco-risks. In the future, not only parents, but also TPs of pharmaceuticals should be effectively managed and attenuated in wastewater.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":443,"journal":{"name":"Water Research","volume":"276 ","pages":"Article 123265"},"PeriodicalIF":11.4000,"publicationDate":"2025-02-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Water Research","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0043135425001794","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENGINEERING, ENVIRONMENTAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Transformation products (TPs) of pharmaceuticals have raised great concerns due to the extensive detection and potentially higher concentration and toxicity than parents. However, the related knowledge on TPs of pharmaceuticals in wastewater were limited. To fill this gap, suspect screening workflow was developed to identify TPs from 28 pharmaceuticals in 12 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) located in Yangtze River Delta region of China. Based on the developed suspect lists included structural information and predicted retention time for 1643 TPs, 67 TPs were successfully identified at confidence levels of ≥3 and 61.12 % of them originated from non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Subsequently, target screening revealed that 4‑hydroxy-diclofenac, diclofenac-benzoic acid, N-demethylation tramadol, 10,11-dihydro-10-dihydroxycarbamazepine and 10,11-dihydro-10,11-epoxycarbamazepine exhibited high concentration up to μg/L in WWTPs. Comparatively, the cumulative concentration of TPs was higher than parents of pharmaceuticals in effluent of WWTPs. In addition, the predicted results revealed that 29.85 %, 82.09 % and 19.91 % TPs have higher toxicity, persistence and bioaccumulation than parents. Furthermore, diclofenac-benzoic acid and 10,11-dihydro-10,11-epoxycarbamazepine exhibited higher eco-risks than their corresponding parents and N-demethylation tramadol was found to be with moderated eco-risks in effluent of WWTRPs. Collectively, the present study provides holistic information on TPs for 28 pharmaceuticals in wastewater and highlights the importance for TPs of pharmaceuticals in WWTPs from the aspect of concentration, toxicity and eco-risks. In the future, not only parents, but also TPs of pharmaceuticals should be effectively managed and attenuated in wastewater.
期刊介绍：
Water Research, along with its open access companion journal Water Research X, serves as a platform for publishing original research papers covering various aspects of the science and technology related to the anthropogenic water cycle, water quality, and its management worldwide. The audience targeted by the journal comprises biologists, chemical engineers, chemists, civil engineers, environmental engineers, limnologists, and microbiologists. The scope of the journal include:
•Treatment processes for water and wastewaters (municipal, agricultural, industrial, and on-site treatment), including resource recovery and residuals management;
•Urban hydrology including sewer systems, stormwater management, and green infrastructure;
•Drinking water treatment and distribution;
•Potable and non-potable water reuse;
•Sanitation, public health, and risk assessment;
•Anaerobic digestion, solid and hazardous waste management, including source characterization and the effects and control of leachates and gaseous emissions;
•Contaminants (chemical, microbial, anthropogenic particles such as nanoparticles or microplastics) and related water quality sensing, monitoring, fate, and assessment;
•Anthropogenic impacts on inland, tidal, coastal and urban waters, focusing on surface and ground waters, and point and non-point sources of pollution;
•Environmental restoration, linked to surface water, groundwater and groundwater remediation;
•Analysis of the interfaces between sediments and water, and between water and atmosphere, focusing specifically on anthropogenic impacts;
•Mathematical modelling, systems analysis, machine learning, and beneficial use of big data related to the anthropogenic water cycle;
•Socio-economic, policy, and regulations studies.
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