Revealing the underestimated risks of pharmaceutical transformation products in wastewater by suspect and targeted screening

IF 12.4 1区环境科学与生态学 Q1 ENGINEERING, ENVIRONMENTAL Water Research Pub Date : 2025-05-15 Epub Date: 2025-02-14 DOI:10.1016/j.watres.2025.123265

Gang Wu , Yuli Qian , Chunqiu Zhang , Hongqiang Ren , Jinju Geng

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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.

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通过可疑和定向筛选揭示废水中药物转化产品被低估的风险

药物转化产物（TPs）由于检测范围广、浓度和毒性可能高于母体，引起了人们的极大关注。然而，关于废水中药物的TPs的相关知识有限。为了填补这一空白，我们开发了可疑筛选工作流程，从中国长三角地区12家污水处理厂的28种药物中鉴定出TPs。根据1643种TPs的结构信息和预测滞留时间，成功鉴定出67种TPs，置信水平≥3，其中61.12%来自非甾体类抗炎药。结果表明，4 -羟基-双氯芬酸、双氯芬酸-苯甲酸、n -去甲基曲马多、10,11-二氢-10-二羟基卡马西平和10,11-二氢-10,11-环氧卡马西平在WWTPs中的浓度最高可达μg/L。污水处理厂出水中TPs的累积浓度高于药物母体。预测结果显示，29.85%、82.09%和19.91%的TPs毒性、持久性和生物蓄积性均高于亲本。此外，双氯芬酸-苯甲酸和10,11-二氢-10,11-环氧卡马西平的生态风险高于其母体，n -去甲基曲马多在污水处理厂出水中的生态风险较低。总的来说，本研究提供了废水中28种药物的TPs的整体信息，并从浓度、毒性和生态风险方面强调了药物TPs在污水处理厂中的重要性。今后，不仅要对废水中药物的TPs进行有效的管理和减毒。

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来源期刊

Water Research 环境科学-工程：环境

CiteScore

20.80

自引率

9.40%

发文量

1307

审稿时长

38 days

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.