RUI: Influence of Wastewater Treatment on Fate, Transport, and Bioaccumulation of Antidepressant Pharmaceuticals in Terrestrial Environments

College Of Wooster, Wooster OH

Investigators

Abstract

1235900 Schultz Antidepressant pharmaceuticals are one of the most heavily prescribed pharmaceutical products in the United States. Human pharmaceuticals enter wastewater treatment and, subsequently, the environment, primarily by way of domestic waste from human excretion or by direct disposal of unused or expired drugs in toilets. Since antidepressants are widely prescribed in the United States and are incompletely removed during municipal wastewater treatment, it is not surprising that these chemicals are being measured in our waterways. Antidepressants and select degradates have been reported in wastewater effluent and in effluent-receiving surface waters at nanogram to low microgram per liter range. The presence and potential accumulation of pharmaceutically active compounds, including antidepressants, poses a great threat to non-target organisms that live in environments that receive continuous exposure of antidepressants via wastewater discharge. Laboratory and field studies confirm that non-target organisms, such as fish that live in wastewater effluent receiving waters, can accumulate antidepressants in their tissues. Laboratory exposure studies report that there are behavioral and physiological consequences of antidepressant exposure on these non-target organisms. Most research regarding the fate and transport of antidepressants in the environment has focused on aquatic systems. The primary objectives of this research are to measure the fate, transport, and the potential for bioaccumulation of antidepressants in terrestrial environments considering wastewater treatment technologies that may remediate and reduce their subsequent loads into the environment. Specific aims include: (i) to determine the occurrence, distribution, and fate of antidepressants in biosolids and biosolids-amended soils (ii) investigate the bioaccumulation of antidepressants in earthworms living in biosolid-amended soils, and (iii) explore the potential for remediation of antidepressants during sludge treatment. Public and regulatory interest regarding the presence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in the environment is increasing. Antidepressants are environmental contaminants of particular concern because they are widely dispensed, are bioactive (including many of their degradation products), are common wastewater contaminants, and have been shown to cause adverse effects in organisms living in wastewater-impacted environments. This project will investigate the role wastewater treatment plants plays in introducing antidepressants to terrestrial environments, while exploring wastewater treatment plants remediation technologies that could reduce their environmental loads. Results from this study will assist our understanding of the relationship between wastewater treatment and the fate, transport, and possible bioaccumulation of antidepressants from biosolids to terrestrial environments, an area of research that is currently understudied.