Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Fekadu, Samuel
• Alemayehu, Esayas
• Dewil, Raf
• Van der Bruggen, Bart

Titel

Pharmaceuticals in freshwater aquatic environments: A comparison of the African and European challenge

Ist Teil von

• The Science of the total environment, 2019-03, Vol.654, p.324-337

Ort / Verlag

Netherlands: Elsevier B.V

Erscheinungsjahr

2019

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Hundreds of tons of pharmaceutical compounds are annually dispensed and consumed worldwide. Pharmaceuticals are an important class of emerging environmental micropollutants: their presence in water bodies is an increasing environmental concern. The aim of this review paper is to provide a comprehensive review of the occurrence of pharmaceuticals in freshwater aquatic environments in the African and European context. A literature survey has been performed, resulting in 3024 data points related to environmental occurrence. The concentration levels of 71 pharmaceuticals were assessed. The top ten most frequently detected and quantified compounds in both continents were sulfamethoxazole, carbamazepine, diclofenac, trimethoprim, ibuprofen, naproxen, paracetamol (acetaminophen), ketoprofen, venlafaxine and clarithromycin. The maximum concentrations of 17β-estradiol, estriol, ciprofloxacin, sulfamethoxazole, paracetamol, naproxen reported in African aquatic environments were ~3140, ~20,000, ~125, ~100, ~215 and ~171 times higher, respectively, than the concentrations reported in European based studies. The variation in pharmaceutical consumption, partial removal of pharmaceuticals in wastewater treatment processes, and the direct discharge of livestock animal farm wastewater were identified among the major reasons for the observed differences. Several pharmaceuticals were found in aquatic environments of both continents in concentration levels higher than their ecotoxicity endpoints. In Europe, compounds such as diclofenac, ibuprofen, triclosan, sulfadimidine, carbamazepine and fluoxetine were reported in a concentration higher than the available ecotoxicity endpoints. In Africa, much more compounds reached concentrations more than the ecotoxicity endpoints, including diclofenac, ibuprofen, paracetamol, naproxen, ciprofloxacin, triclosan, trimethoprim, sulfamethoxazole, carbamazepine and fluoxetine, estriol and 17β-estradiol. Details for each therapeutic group are presented in this review. [Display omitted] •Large variation in pharmaceuticals concentration in surface waters in Africa and Europe was observed.•The maximum concentrations reported in Africa were nearly 20,000 times higher than in Europe.•Partial removal in WWTP and high pharmaceutical consumption were among the major factors.•Sulfamethoxazole and carbamazepine were the most detected compounds.•Measured concentrations were up to 7850 times higher than ecotoxicity endpoints in Africa.