Occurrence and transport of pharmaceuticals in a karst groundwater system affected by domestic wastewater treatment plants

Journal of Contaminant Hydrology
Florian EinsiedlPiotr Maloszewski

Abstract

The occurrence of two pharmaceuticals, ibuprofen and diclofenac, in a vulnerable karst groundwater system was investigated. The hydrogeology of the karst system was identified by collecting (3)H samples in groundwater over 27years and by performing tracer tests. The isotopes and tracer data were interpreted by mathematical modeling to estimate the mean transit time of water and to characterize the hydrogeological flow paths in the groundwater system. By this approach, a mean (3)H transit time of 4.6 years for the fissured-porous karst aquifer was determined, whereas the fast flowing water in the conduit system showed a mean transit time of days. Both pharmaceuticals which infiltrated along sinkholes and small streams into the karst system were detected in concentrations of up to approximately 1 microg/L in effluent water of the wastewater treatment plants. Diclofenac was present in most samples collected from four springs discharging the karst groundwater to the rivers Altmühl and Anlauter in concentrations between 3.6 and 15.4 ng/L. In contrast, ibuprofen was rarely detected in groundwater. The results of this study suggest that both pharmaceuticals move into the fractured system of the karst system and go into storage. Thus d...Continue Reading

References

Feb 15, 2003·Chemosphere·Roberto AndreozziPaxéus Nicklas
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Citations

Sep 13, 2011·Environmental Science and Pollution Research International·Paola C Rúa-Gómez, Wilhelm Püttmann
Dec 4, 2012·Environmental Pollution·Barbara Morasch
Feb 7, 2012·Environmental Pollution·D J LapworthR S Ward
Dec 3, 2014·The Science of the Total Environment·Olav HillebrandTobias Licha
Jul 2, 2016·MethodsX·Lucrezia LamastraMarco Trevisan
Oct 4, 2016·Environmental Science and Pollution Research International·Axelle ChiffrePierre-Marie Badot
Oct 13, 2018·Environmental Science and Pollution Research International·Jiacheng LanDaoxian Yuan
Apr 17, 2015·Environmental Monitoring and Assessment·Yen-Ching LinAngela Yu-Chen Lin
Feb 26, 2021·The Science of the Total Environment·Huanfang HuangWei Chen
Jul 4, 2021·Environmental Research·Adebayo Olatunbosun Sojobi, Tarek Zayed

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