Abstract
Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) and their metabolites continually flow into aquatic environments and are detected widely at significant concentrations. However, a comprehensive survey has not been conducted on PPCPs in aquatic environments in Japan. Moreover, the information about removal techniques for PPCPs, such as chlorination and ozonization, is limited. In this study, we investigated the occurrence of fifteen PPCPs in water samples (sewage water and river water) collected in urban areas of Japan and evaluated the PPCPs removal efficiencies of chlorination and powdered activated carbon treatment. PPCPs (except erythromycin, paroxetine, and fluvoxamine) were detected in almost all sewage water and river water samples. The highest value was observed in bezafibrate and detected at μg · l-1 level. The concentrations of other PPCPs were one order of magnitude lower than that of bezafibrate. The removal efficiency of chlorination varied with the type of PPCPs, and the percentages of relative residuals of fibrates, fluvoxamine, carbamazepine, and ethenzamide were more than 50% at four hours after treatment. On the other hand, although removal rate was relatively low compared with that of chlorination, almost all PPCPs were satisfactory removed by powdered activated carbon treatment. These results suggest that a combination of these treatments could be effective for the removal of PPCPs.
