Biodegradation of Pharmaceutical Compounds and their Occurrence in the Jordan Valley

Andreas Tiehm (), Natalie Schmidt, Michael Stieber, Frank Sacher, Leif Wolf and Heinz Hoetzl

Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), 2011, vol. 25, issue 4, 1195-1203

Abstract: In particular in arid regions the reuse of waste water and aquifer recharge is an important issue. Elimination of persistent emerging pollutants represents a key factor in integrated water resources management, and identifying suitable treatment processes to eliminate such compounds becomes inevitably necessary. It is the objective of this study (1) to assess the occurrence of emerging pollutants in the Jordan Valley and (2) to review and examine the biodegradability of selected key compounds. Among the most frequently detected compounds during a sampling campaign in 2007 were pharmaceutical residues such as carbamazepine, diclofenac, or naproxen, and X-ray contrast agents such as diatrizoic acid and iopromide, all typically found in Europe and the USA as well. To gain further insight into elimination processes, biodegradation studies were conducted with batch tests and flow-through soil columns under unsaturated, aerobic conditions. Results demonstrated biodegradation for pharmaceutical residues such as ibuprofen, diclofenac and bezafibrate. The degradation rate was faster in treated waste water as compared to raw waste water, most probably due to competing substrate consumption in raw waste water. The antiepileptic carbamazepine showed no degradation in the batch tests and only moderate removal during soil passage, probably due to sorption. The results of this study and previously published data emphasize the need for further studies under more defined conditions to elucidate the specific conditions under which biodegradation of emerging pollutants proceeds. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011

Keywords: Aquifer recharge; Biodegradation; Carbamazepine; Diclofenac; Jordan Valley; Pharmaceutical residues; Waste water reuse (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11269-010-9678-9 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:waterr:v:25:y:2011:i:4:p:1195-1203

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/11269

DOI: 10.1007/s11269-010-9678-9

Access Statistics for this article

Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA) is currently edited by G. Tsakiris

More articles in Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA) from Springer, European Water Resources Association (EWRA)
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().