In the last years, the issue of hospital wastewater has become a major concern in many countries worldwide, due to the increasing awareness that this effluent can pose serious risks to the environment, thus it needs a proper management and treatment. Knowledge of which kind of pollutants occur and their concentration level and variability is necessary for scientists, practitioners, administrators and decision-makers in order to evaluate their potential impact on the environment. The current study highlights the main results achieved about hospital effluent characterization, then it presents and compares measured concentrations (MECs) and predicted concentrations (PECs) for 38 selected PhCs belonging to 11 different therapeutic classes in the effluent of a large hospital and discusses advantages and drawbacks as well as uncertainties in planning direct experimental campaigns and monitoring of hospital effluent and in predicting pharmaceuticals concentrations by the most adopted model. It emerges that only 7 compounds have a similar PEC and MEC (0.5 ≤ PEC/MEC ≤ 2). On the contrary, for 10 PhCs, the ratio PEC/MEC < 0,5 and for the remaining 21 compounds, PEC/MEC > 2. With regard to MECs, sampling mainly contributes to uncertainties, whereas referring to PECs, excretion factor is the most critical parameter followed by water consumption. The efficacy of the predictions was hampered also by PhC consumption report, that is usually annually provided.
Pharmaceuticals in hospital effluent: what do we know?
VERLICCHI, Paola;ZAMBELLO, Elena
2016
Abstract
In the last years, the issue of hospital wastewater has become a major concern in many countries worldwide, due to the increasing awareness that this effluent can pose serious risks to the environment, thus it needs a proper management and treatment. Knowledge of which kind of pollutants occur and their concentration level and variability is necessary for scientists, practitioners, administrators and decision-makers in order to evaluate their potential impact on the environment. The current study highlights the main results achieved about hospital effluent characterization, then it presents and compares measured concentrations (MECs) and predicted concentrations (PECs) for 38 selected PhCs belonging to 11 different therapeutic classes in the effluent of a large hospital and discusses advantages and drawbacks as well as uncertainties in planning direct experimental campaigns and monitoring of hospital effluent and in predicting pharmaceuticals concentrations by the most adopted model. It emerges that only 7 compounds have a similar PEC and MEC (0.5 ≤ PEC/MEC ≤ 2). On the contrary, for 10 PhCs, the ratio PEC/MEC < 0,5 and for the remaining 21 compounds, PEC/MEC > 2. With regard to MECs, sampling mainly contributes to uncertainties, whereas referring to PECs, excretion factor is the most critical parameter followed by water consumption. The efficacy of the predictions was hampered also by PhC consumption report, that is usually annually provided.I documenti in SFERA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
