Removal and seasonal variability of selected analgesics/anti-inflammatory, anti-hypertensive/cardiovascular pharmaceuticals and UV filters in wastewater treatment plant

Seasonal removal efficiency of 16 pharmaceuticals and personal care products was monitored in a wastewater treatment plant in Ceske Budějovice, Czech Republic, over a period of 1 year (total amount of samples, n = 272). The studied compounds included four UV filters, three analgesics/anti-inflammatory drugs and nine anti-hypertensive/cardiovascular drugs. In most cases, elimination of the substances was incomplete, and overall removal rates varied strongly from −38 to 100 %. Therefore, it was difficult to establish a general trend for each therapeutic group. Based on the removal efficiencies (REs) over the year, three groups of target compounds were observed. A few compounds (benzophenon-1, valsartan, isradipine and furosemide) were not fully removed, but their REs were greater than 50 %. The second group of analytes, consisting of 2-phenylbenzimidazole-5-sulfonic acid, tramadol, sotalol, metoprolol, atenolol and diclofenac, showed a very low RE (lower than 50 %). The third group of compounds showed extremely variable RE (benzophenon-3 and benzophenon-4, codeine, verapamil, diltiazem and bisoprolol). There were significant seasonal trends in the observed REs, with reduced efficiencies in colder months.