Occurrence and Elimination of PPCPs in Sewage Treatment Plants, in the Pearl River Delta (PRD), South China

A scoping investigation was carried out to evaluate the occurrence, persistence and fate of a range of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) at different processing points at three full-scale sewage treatment plants (STPs) at Guangdong, South China. The concentrations of 7 pharmaceuticals from non-steroidal anti-inflammatory analgesics and antihyperlipidemics were examined in each treatment stages in STP3. And one anti-biotic was examined the removal efficiencies in three STPs. Salicylic acid was the most abundant analyte in the three STPs influent, up to ppb magnitude, followed by ibuprofen, diclofenac, naproxen, gemfibrozil, mefenamic acid and clofibric acid. The concentration of salicylic acid, ibuprofen, diclofenac, naproxen and gemfibrozil decreased at least by one order of magnitude after biological treatments. Mefenamic acid and clofibric acid were found not apparent removal efficiencies during these stages, which could indicate lower biodegradability. The different results of triclosan (TCS) removal were appeared in three sewage treatment plants, 79.46%, 64.11% and 31.95%, respectively. Now, the existing sewage treatment system only dependent on the activated sludge secondary treatment can not completely remove PPCPs.