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

包括药物和内分泌干扰物在内的数百种化合物已在废水中被发现，其浓度在微克/升范围内，而在地表水中被检测到的浓度在纳克/升范围内。在饮用水中也检测到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命运的信息很少，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效率不高。在我的小组之前进行的研究表明，臭氧化作为一种三级处理，可以显著提高城市或工业废水中几种化合物的去除率。然而，仍然存在许多问题：转换产品的性质是什么？处理工业废水最有效的氧化方法是什么？在环境中释放这些转换产品的相关风险是什么？拟议研究的长期目标是，在加拿大创新基金会（领导者机会基金和新倡议基金）的两项资助的支持下，获得最先进的基础设施的支持：1)提高我们对环境中影响药物生物降解性因素的认识；2)评估城市废水臭氧化处理的效率和对药物命运的影响以及处理后水的残留毒性；3)研究其他氧化处理方法处理制药工业废水，以便优先采取行动。建立健全规章制度，制定保护环境和公众健康的战略。所提出的方法将有助于培养研究生；将加强与毒理学家以及魁北克省制药业和废水处理厂的合作。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.