Wastewater tracer study utilizing carbamazepine, triclocarban and triclosan in the Philadelphia waterway

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are chemicals that are manufactured and used extensively throughout the world. PPCPs end up in the wastewater system due to disposal or human waste. When treated wastewater is released back to the river, trace amounts of these chemicals are found in source water, which contaminate drinking water and pose a concern of unknown potential harm to the aquatic environment. Recent studies show PPCPs are an environmental hazard to aquatic organisms and humans as well. Since their detection in clean water in the late 1990s, many methods are being developed for analysis of PPCPs in the aquatic environment.1 The present study establishes a useful analytical method for PPCPs and uses selected PPCPs as tracers to investigate the impact of wastewater discharge on the waterways and to estimate the occurrence of PPCPs. This thesis entails three main objectives; first, to develop a sensitive and robust method for three chemical tracers; second, to quantitate these tracers in the Philadelphia watershed; and third, to develop a monitoring program in the Philadelphia watershed to survey the impact that wastewater has on source water. A method was developed for the simultaneous analysis of Carbamazepine (CBZ), Triclocaban (TCS), and Triclosan (TCS) by solid-phase extraction (SPE) followed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with diode array detection (DAD). The calibration range was from 1-100 ug/L. All compounds had a coefficient of determination (r2) > 0.9951, based on a minimum of 7 data points used in the regression of the calibration curve. Procedural recoveries with this method were 90%, 85%, and 80% for Carbamazepine, Triclocarban and Triclosan, respectively. Precision of the method was assessed by comparing repeatability and intermediate precision results with pre-determined criteria. For repeatability for intra-day precision, an RSD less than %16 was achieved. For intermediate precision, an RSD less than 9% was obtained. Procedural RSD was also determined to be less than 12%. The fate of the chemical tracers was quantitated after the treatment process to assess their use as tracers. All three tracers were detected before and after wastewater treatment. Detections in wastewater effluent were in the ranges of 0.4 - 5.0 ug/L for Carbamazepine, 0.05-0.09 for Triclocarban, and 0.29-0.47 ug/L for Triclosan. It was shown that Carbamazepine, Triclocarban, and Triclosan are removed through the wastewater treatment by 43% to 93%, 86 to 89%, and 71 to 83%, respectively. Concentrations found in source water are in the ranges of 0.006-1.1 ug/L for Carbamazepine, 0.004 - 0.48 ug/L for Triclocarban, and 0.02-0.058 ug/L for Triclosan.