Removal mechanisms, nature and relative toxicity of transformation products of pharmaceuticals in advanced wastewater treatment

已在废水中发现成百上千种化合物，包括药物和内分泌干扰物，浓度在ug/L范围内，在地表水中检测到ng/L范围内。在饮用水中也检测到了其中一些化合物的痕迹。关于这些污染物在环境和工程系统中的去向的信息很少，但以前的研究表明，传统的废水处理方法在去除大多数这些化合物方面并不有效。以前在我的团队中进行的研究表明，臭氧作为第三级处理方法大大提高了对城市或工业废水中几种此类化合物的去除效果。然而，许多问题仍然存在：转型产品的性质是什么？处理工业废水最有效的氧化方法是什么？在环境中发布这些转型产品有哪些风险？这项拟议研究的长期目标是：1)提高我们对影响药物在环境中的可生物降解性的因素的认识；2)评估臭氧氧化城市废水的效率和影响；以及3)研究其他氧化处理方法来处理制药业的废水，以便优先采取行动、建立健全的法规和制定战略，以保护环境和公众健康。拟议的方法将导致对研究生的培训；将加强与毒物学家以及与魁北克制药业和废水处理厂开展的合作。更好地了解和控制这些化合物的去除机制将减轻它们在环境中存在的风险。

Hundreds of compounds including pharmaceuticals and endocrine disruptors have been identified in wastewaters in concentrations in the ug/L range while being detected in the ng/L range in surface waters. Traces of some of these compounds have also been detected in drinking water. Little information is available on the fate of these contaminants in the environment and in engineered systems but previous studies showed that conventional wastewater treatment approaches are not efficient at removing most of these compounds. Previous research conducted in my group showed that ozonation used as a tertiary treatment significantly enhance the removal of several of these compounds in municipal or industrial wastewaters. However, many questions remain: What is the nature of the transformation products? What are the most efficient oxidative approaches for the treatment of industrial wastewaters? What are the risks associated with the release of these transformation products in the environment? The long term objectives of the proposed research, supported by a state-of-the-art infrastructure obtained with the support of two grants awarded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation (Leaders Opportunity and New Initiatives Funds) are: 1) To improve our knowledge of the factors affecting the biodegradability of pharmaceuticals in the environment, 2) To assessing the efficiency and impact of ozonation of municipal wastewater on the fate of pharmaceuticals as well as the residual toxicity of the treated water and 3) To study other oxidative treatment approaches for the treatment of wastewaters from the pharmaceuticals industry in order to prioritize actions, established sound regulations and develop strategies to protect the environment and public health. The methodology proposed will result in the training of graduate students; will strengthen collaboration developed with toxicologists as well as with the pharmaceutical industry and wastewater treatment plants in Quebec. A better understanding and control of the removal mechanisms of these compounds will mitigate the risks associated with their presence in the environment.