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Abstract: Occurrence and removal efficiencies of fifteen pharmaceuticals were investigated in a conventional municipal wastewater treatment plant in Michigan. Concentrations of these pharmaceuticals were determined in both wastewater and sludge phases by a high-performance liquid chromatograph coupled to a tandem mass spectrometer. Detailed mass balance analysis was conducted during the whole treatment process to evaluate the contributing processes for pharmaceutical removal. Among the pharmaceuticals studied, demeclocycline, sulfamerazine, erythromycin and tylosin were not detected in the wastewater treatment plant influent. Other target pharmaceuticals detected in wastewater were also found in the corresponding sludge phase. The removal efficiencies of chlortetracycline, tetracycline, sulfamerazine, acetaminophen and caffeine were >99%, while doxycycline, oxytetracycline, sulfadiazine and lincomycin exhibited relatively lower removal efficiencies (e.g., <50%). For sulfamethoxazole, the removal efficiency was approximately 90%. Carbamazepine manifested a net increase of mass, i.e. 41% more than the input from the influent. Based on the mass balance analysis, biotransformation is believed to be the predominant process responsible for the removal of pharmaceuticals (22% to 99%), whereas contribution of sorption to sludge was relatively insignificant (7%) for the investigated pharmaceuticals. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Antibiotics and corresponding resistance genes and resistant bacteria have been considered as emerging pollutants worldwide. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are potential reservoirs contributing to the evolution and spread of antibiotic resistance. In this study, total concentrations of tetracycline and sulfonamide antibiotics in final effluent were detected at 652.6 and 261.1ng/L, respectively, and in treated sludge, concentrations were at 1150.0 and 76.0μg/kg dry weight (dw), respectively. The quantities of antibiotic resistance genes and antibiotic resistant bacteria in final effluent were quantified in the range of 9.12×10(5)-1.05×10(6) gene abundances /100mL (genomic copies/100mL) and 1.05×10(1)-3.09×10(3)CFU/mL, respectively. In treated sludge, they were quantified at concentrations of 1.00×10(8)-1.78×10(9) gene abandances/100mL and 7.08×10(6)-1.91×10(8)CFU/100mL, respectively. Significant reductions (2-3 logs, p<0.05) of antibiotic resistance genes and antibiotic resistant bacteria were observed between raw influent and final effluent. The gene abundances of tetO and tetW normalized to that of 16S rRNA genes indicated an apparent decrease as compared to sulI genes, which remained stable along each treatment stage. Significant correlations (R(2)=0.75-0.83, p<0.05) between numbers of resistant bacteria and antibiotic concentrations were observed in raw influent and final effluent. No significance (R(2)=0.15, p>0.05) was found between tet genes (tetO and tetW) with concentration of tetracyclines identified in wastewater, while a significant correlation (R(2)=0.97, p<0.05) was observed for sulI gene and total concentration of sulfonamides. Correlations of the quantities of antibiotic resistance genes and antibiotic resistant bacteria with corresponding concentrations of antibiotics in sludge samples were found to be considerably weak (R(2)=0.003-0.07)., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)