RUI: Photochemical Degradation, Soil Sorption, and Environmental Fate of Pharmaceutically Active Compounds in Simulated and Natural Water Samples

1236266 Cory目前，药物活性化合物（PhAC）的环境命运在很大程度上是未知的。在废水处理后，这些化合物的痕量水平通常被排放到环境中。 一旦它们进入环境，其清除过程包括太阳光降解和土壤和沉积物的吸附。本研究项目将研究十种具有不同化学性质的PhAC，其目标是：（1）确定每种PhAC光降解的主要转化产物，特别是那些化学结构表明可能具有环境持久性和/或生态毒性的产物;（2）不仅研究母体药物的环境归宿，而且研究光化学和土壤降解产物的环境归宿;和（3）调查直接和间接光降解速率，以确定每种PhAC光化学降解的主要途径。 为了实现该项目？为了实现这一目标，将采用以下方法和分析：（1）将PhAC加标水样暴露于模拟阳光和土壤样品，（2）化学提取技术，包括超声波和微波溶剂辅助提取，（3）分析技术，包括高效液相色谱法（HPLC）和液相色谱-质谱检测（LC-MS），（4）数据分析软件，包括化学模拟和地球化学计算机程序。 预期的结果是更全面地了解每种化合物在环境中的归宿和持久性。这项多学科研究汇集了来自环境工程，环境地球科学，制药和分析化学领域的研究人员，并将涉及18名本科研究人员的直接参与。药物活性化合物（PhAC）释放到环境中是全球关注的问题。PhAC，包括药物，个人护理产品及其代谢产物，在通过废水处理厂后进入天然水系统，这些废水处理厂已被证明在去除许多这些化合物方面效率低下。从那里他们旅行和/或在环境中转化; PhAC的自然稀释，转化或去除过程是其化学和物理性质的函数。2002年美国地质调查局的一项研究发现，30个州的139条溪流中有80%含有可检测水平的一种或多种PhAC。虽然在天然沃茨中测得的这些化合物的浓度远低于医疗剂量水平，但对生态系统的风险研究表明，这些化合物对水生和非水生生物都有不利影响。这种PhAC混合物对儿童、育龄妇女和免疫系统受损的人构成的风险尚不清楚。迄今为止，这一领域的大部分研究主要集中在PhAC的环境发生上。然而，PhAC的环境命运“它们如何在环境中旅行并随着时间的推移转化为不同的分子”仍然在很大程度上是未知的。最终，这项研究的结果可用于评估和最大限度地减少这些化合物对生态系统和人类健康造成的风险，以及设计解决方案，以便在废水处理过程中更有效地去除这些化合物。

1236266CoryAt this time, the environmental fate of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) is largely unknown. Trace levels of these compounds are often discharged into the environment following wastewater treatment. Once they enter the environment the removal processes include solar photodegradation and sorption to soils and sediments. The objectives of this research project, which will study ten PhACs with different chemical properties, are (1) to identify the major transformation products of photodegradation for each PhAC, especially those products whose chemical structures suggest potential for environmental persistence and/or ecotoxicity; (2) to study the environmental fate of not only the parent pharmaceutical but also the products of photochemical and soil degradation; and (3) to investigate the rates of direct and indirect photodegradation in order to determine the primary route of photochemical degradation for each PhAC. To achieve the project?s objectives, the following methodologies and analyses will be employed: (1) exposure of PhAC-spiked water samples to simulated sunlight and soil samples, (2) chemical extraction techniques including ultrasonic- and microwave solvent-assisted extractions, (3) analytical techniques including high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and liquid chromatography with mass spectrometric detection (LC-MS), and (4) software for data analysis including chemical modeling and geochemical computer codes. The expected outcome is a more complete picture of the fate and persistence of each compound in the environment. This multidisciplinary study brings together researchers from the fields of environmental engineering, environmental geosciences, and pharmaceutical and analytical chemistry and will involve the direct participation of eighteen undergraduate researchers. The release of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) into the environment is a problem of global concern. PhACs, which include drugs, personal care products and their metabolites, enter natural water systems after passing through wastewater treatment plants that have proven inefficient at removing many of these compounds. From there they travel and/or transform in the environment; the processes of natural dilution, transformation, or removal of the PhAC are a function of its chemical and physical properties. A 2002 USGS study found that 80% of 139 streams across 30 states contained detectable levels of one or more PhACs. While the measured concentrations of these compounds in natural waters are well below medical dosage levels, studies of the risk to the ecosystem have indicated adverse effects to both aquatic and non-aquatic organisms. The risk posed by this mixture of PhACs to children, women of childbearing age and people with compromised immune systems is not known. To date, most of the research in this area has focused largely on the environmental occurrence of PhACs. However, the environmental fate of PhACs "how they travel through the environment and transform into different molecules over time" is still largely unknown. Ultimately, results from this study could be used to assess and minimize the risk posed by these compounds to the ecosystem and human health as well as to engineer solutions for removal of these compounds more effectively during wastewater treatment.