Jeong-Eun Oh

Occurrence and removal of antibiotics, hormones and several other pharmaceuticals in wastewater treatment plants of the largest industrial city of Korea.

Occurrence and removal efficiencies of 20 pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) including antibiotics, hormones, and several other miscellaneous pharmaceuticals (analgesics, antiepileptics, antilipidemics, antihypertensives, antiseptics, and stimulants) were investigated in five wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) of Ulsan, the largest industrial city of Korea. The compounds were extracted from wastewater samples by solid-phase extraction (SPE) and analyzed by High-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). The results showed that acetaminophen, atenolol and lincomycin were the main individual pollutants usually found in concentrations over 10 μg/L in the sewage influent. In the WWTPs, the concentrations of analgesic acetaminophen, stimulant caffeine, hormones estriol and estradiol decreased by over 99%. On the contrary, the antibiotic sulfamethazine, the antihypertensive metoprolol, and the antiepileptic carbamazepine exhibited removal efficiencies below 30%. Particularly, removal of antibiotics was observed to vary between -11.2 and 69%. In the primary treatment (physico-chemical processes), the removal of pharmaceuticals was insignificant (up to 28%) and removal of majority of the pharmaceuticals occurred during the secondary treatment (biological processes). The compounds lincomycin, carbamazepine, atenolol, metoprolol, and triclosan showed better removal in WWTPs employing modified activated sludge process with co-existence of anoxic-oxic condition. Further investigation into the design and operational aspects of the biological processes is warranted for the efficient removal of PPCPs, particularly antibiotics, to secure healthy water resource in the receiving downstream, thereby ensuring a sustainable water cycle management.

Occurrence and distribution of pharmaceuticals in wastewater from households, livestock farms, hospitals and pharmaceutical manufactures

Twenty-four pharmaceuticals were measured in wastewater from 12 municipal wastewater treatment plants (M-WWTPs), four livestock WWTPs (L-WWTPs), four hospital WWTPs (H-WWTPs) and four pharmaceutical manufacture WWTPs (P-WWTPs). The total concentration of pharmaceuticals in the influent samples was highest in the L-WWTPs followed by the P-WWTPs, H-WWTPs and M-WWTPs. The effluents had different patterns of pharmaceuticals than their corresponding influents because of the different fate of each compound in the WWTPs. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) were the most dominant in the influents from the M-WWTPs and P-WWTPs, while antibiotics were dominantly detected in the L-WWTP. In the H-WWTP influents, NSAIDs, caffeine and carbamazepine were dominant. In the P-WWTPs, the distribution of pharmaceuticals in the effluents varied with sampling sites and periods. The M-WWTP influents had the highest daily loads, while the effluents showed somewhat similar levels in all source types.

Occurrence and fate of pharmaceuticals in wastewater treatment plants and rivers in Korea

We measured 25 pharmaceuticals in ten municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), one hospital WWTP and five rivers in Korea. In the municipal WWTP influents, acetaminophen, acetylsalicylic acid and caffeine showed relatively high concentrations. The occurrence of pharmaceuticals in the wastewater seems to be influenced by production and consumption of pharmaceuticals. The hospital WWTP influent showed higher total concentrations of pharmaceuticals than the municipal WWTPs, and caffeine, ciprofloxacin and acetaminophen were dominant. In the rivers, caffeine was dominant, and the distribution of pharmaceuticals was related to the inflow of the wastewater. In the municipal WWTPs, the concentrations of acetaminophen, caffeine, acetylsalicylic acid, ibuprofen and gemfibrozil decreased by over 99%. The decrease of these pharmaceuticals occurred mainly during the biological processes. In the physico-chemical processes, the decrease of pharmaceuticals was insignificant except for some cases. In the hospital WWTP, ciprofloxacin, acetylsalicylic acid, acetaminophen and carbamazepine showed the decrease rates of over 80%.

Effects of forest fire on the level and distribution of PCDD/Fs and PAHs in soil

Forest fires are believed to produce polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs); however, there is no firm evidence supporting this conjecture. To address this issue, we investigated whether PCDD/Fs and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are formed by forest fires. The present work takes the indirect approach of measuring the levels of PCDD/Fs and PAHs in soil and ash samples 1, 5 and 9 months after forest fires. To determine if PCDD/Fs or PAHs were formed during forest fires, the levels of PCDD/Fs and PAHs measured in the burnt soil samples were compared with those in the corresponding unburnt soil samples. One month after forest fires, the concentrations of PCDD/Fs and PAHs in burnt soils were higher than in the corresponding unburnt soils. In addition, the homologue profiles differed between the burnt and unburnt soils. Five months after forest fires, however, the concentrations of PCDD/Fs and PAHs in the burnt soils were similar to those in unburnt soils. The data presented here strongly suggest that PCDD/Fs and PAHs form during forest fires and are then introduced into the soil. The results further suggest that the ash resulting from the combustion of wood and other organic matter is the main agent influencing the concentration of PCDD/Fs and PAHs in the soil.

Evaluation of the fate of perfluoroalkyl compounds in wastewater treatment plants.

Recent studies have shown that the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) is a significant source of perfluoroalkyl compounds (PFCs) in natural water. In this study, 10 PFCs were analyzed in influent and effluent wastewater and sludge samples in 15 municipal, 4 livestock and 3 industrial WWTPs in Korea. The observed distribution pattern of PFCs differed between the wastewater and sludge samples. Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) was dominant in the sludge samples with a concentration ranging from 3.3 to 54.1 ng/g, whereas perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) was dominant in wastewater and ranged from 2.3 to 615 ng/L and 3.4 to 591 ng/L in influent and effluent wastewater, respectively. Principal component analysis (PCA) results provided an explanation for this variation in PFC distribution patterns in the aqueous and sludge samples. The fates of PFCs in the WWTPs were related with the functional groups. The PFOS concentrations tended to decrease after treatment in most WWTPs, whereas PFOA increased. The different fates of PFOA and PFOS in WWTPs were attributed to the higher organic carbon-normalized distribution coefficient of perfluoroalkylsulfonate (PFASs) than that of the carboxylate analog, indicating the preference of PFASs to partition to sludge. Although industrial WWTPs contained high concentration of PFCs, they are not the main source of PFCs in Korean water environment because of their small release amount. WWTPs located in big cities discharged more PFCs, suggesting household sewage is one of the significant sources of PFCs contamination in the environment.

Occurrence and fate of synthetic musk compounds in water environment

Synthetic musk compounds (SMCs) occur widely in water environments. The aims of this paper were to investigate the occurrence and fate of SMCs in sewage treatment plants (STPs) and surface waters. Total SMC concentrations ranged from 3.69 to 7.33microg/L (influent) and from 0.96 to 2.69microg/L (effluent) in 10 STPs. The SMC concentrations varied with the input source and treatment volume of each STP. Biological treatment processes had a greater SMCs removal effect than chemical treatment, filtration and disinfection processes. The SMC concentrations in surface waters ranged from 0.15 to 16.72microg/L and exhibited similar SMCs occurrence patterns generally. The fate of SMCs in water environments depends on their physical-chemical properties and their concentrations can be predicted from other SMC concentrations due to their similar fates.

Gas/particle partitioning of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans in atmosphere; evaluation of predicting models

The gas/particle partitioning of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs) was measured at three sites for a year in order to monitor the variation of PCDD/Fs levels and describe their partitioning. The air concentrations of PCDD/Fs ranged from 71 to 1161 fg I-TEQ/m 3 and large changes in these levels did not correlate with seasonal changes during this study. Different homolog patterns were observed in the gas/particle phase. High chlorinated dioxin/furans dominated the particle phase while low chlorinated dioxin/furans dominated the gas phase. The high correlation coefficient between log [(PCDD/Fsvap)(TSP)/(PCDD/Fspat)] and 1=T was observed in lower chlorinated dioxin/furans unlike in OCDD/F. The slope of homolog ranged from @0.410 to @1.025 and that of 2,3,7,8-substituted isomers ranged from @0.379 to @0.772 in plots of the log partition coefficient (Kp) versus the log subcooled vapor pressure (P o). The octanol/air partition coefficient (KoaÞ-based model of PCDD/Fs is more compatible with experimental data than those of the Junge–Pankow model that tends to overestimate results, even though both models include some level of uncertainty. However, both models can underestimate the particle phase of PCDD/Fs, especially when the ambient air temperature is extremely low in winter. r 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

The evaluation of PCDD/Fs from various Korean incinerators

Abstract The stack gas samples from municipal solid waste incinerators (MSWIs), small size incinerators (SIs), a hospital waste incinerator (HWI) and an industrial waste incinerator (IWI) were collected and analyzed for polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs). The PCDD/Fs emission of MSWIs exhibited a large variation (0.07∼36.5 ng I-TEQ/Nm3) and the emission of IWI was the least of all incinerators. The emission factor of small size incinerators was the largest. The PCDD/Fs homologue patterns were similar and the fraction of PCDFs was higher than that of PCDDs. This study shows that PCDD/Fs emission is related to the age of incinerators, CO, and flue gas dust. However, no correlation is observed between PCDD/Fs emission and O2, HCl, and waste composition. It is estimated that approximately 1970 g of ΣPCDD/Fs (41.2 g I-TEQ) are annually released from MSWIs and small size incinerators. Also, 6.6 g of ΣPCDD/Fs (0.1 g I-TEQ) from burning non-chlorinated waste oil and organic solvent are emitted. The PCDD/Fs emission of the small size incinerators is considered as the major point source of PCDD/Fs emission in Korea.

Distribution and formation of chlorophenols and bromophenols in marine and riverine environments

To understand the distribution and formation of chlorophenols (CPs) and bromophenols (BPs), we analyzed water and sediment samples collected from the riverine areas and the marine environments near a nuclear power plant (NPP) in Korea. In the seawater, only BPs (2,4-dibromophenol and 2,4,6-tribromophenol) were detected, while CPs and BPs (4-chlorophenol, 2,6-dichlorophenol, 2,4,6-trichlorophenol and 2,4,6-tribromophenol) were detected in the riverine water. 2,4-DBP (0.531-32.7 ng/L) in the seawater was detected in sites near the NPP and 2,4,6-TBP (0.378-20.2 ng/L) was found in most of the seawater. In the riverine water, the sample near the industrial complex (118 ng/L) showed a greater total concentration than others (0.510-7.64 ng/L). In the marine sediments, BPs (99.0-553 ng/g dry weight) showed higher concentrations than CPs (0.145-16.1 ng/g dry weight). The BPs levels (1.01-8.55 ng/g dry weight) in the riverine sediments were much lower (10-500 times) than those in the marine sediments. The distribution patterns of CPs and BPs between the marine and riverine environments differed, with relatively high levels of BPs appearing in the marine environments due to natural formation except for anthropogenic sources. The chlorination process of the NPP also seems to form BPs (2-bromophenol, 2,4-dibromophenol and 2,4,6-tribromophenol). However, the effluents had an influence on the seawater near the NPP (about 2 km). In the riverine environments, CPs were dominant, which are related to the industrial complex. Thus, CPs and BPs in the marine and riverine environments are generated via various routes such as anthropogenic formation and biosynthesis.

Tetrabromobisphenol A and hexabromocyclododecane flame retardants in infant–mother paired serum samples, and their relationships with thyroid hormones and environmental factors

The concentrations of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) and hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs), and their correlations with thyroid hormones, were investigated in sera from 26 infants with congenital hypothyroidism, 12 healthy infants, and their mothers. The analyte concentrations were not significantly different in the two infant groups. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (measured in a previous study) were the dominant brominated flame retardants, contributing 42-87% of the total, and HBCDs contributed 5-18%. TBBPA concentrations were 2-5 times higher in the infants than in the mothers. The TBBPA concentrations decreased dramatically with age for 2-3 months after birth, which might be caused by its relatively high maternal transfer rate, short half-life, and fast excretion. Significant correlations were found between mothers and infants in the TBBPA and HBCD concentrations, implying that maternal transfer was important. TBBPA correlated weakly with thyroid hormones, showing a positive relationship with FT4 but a negative relationship with T3.