Occurrence and removal rate of typical pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in an urban wastewater treatment plant in Beijing, China

The occurrence and removal rate of 52 typical pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) were investigated in a wastewater treatment plant in Beijing, China. Thirty-three PPCPs were found in the influent, with caffeine (CF, 11387.0 ng L−1) being the most abundant, followed by N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET, 9568.4 ng L−1), metoprolol (MTP, 930.2 ng L−1), and diclofenac (DF, 710.3 ng L−1). After treatment processes, the cumulative concentration of PPCPs decreased from 2.54 × 104 ng L−1 to 1.44 × 103 ng L−1, with the overall removal efficiency (RE) of 94.3%. Different treatment processes showed varying contributions in removing PPCPs. PPCPs were efficiently removed in sedimentation, anoxic, and ultraviolet units. For individual compounds, a great variation in RE (52.1–100%) was observed. Twenty-two PPCPs were removed by more than 90%. The highly detected PPCPs in the influent were almost completely removed. Aerated grit chamber removed nearly 50% of fluoroquinolone (FQs) and more than 60% of sulfonamides. Most PPCPs showed low or negative removals during anaerobic treatment, except for CF which was eliminated by 64.9%. Anoxic treatment demonstrated positive removals for most PPCPs, with the exceptions of DF, MTP, bisoprolol, carbamazepine (CBZ), and sibutramine. DEET and bezafibrate were efficiently removed during the secondary sedimentation. Denitrification biological filter and membrane filtration also showed positive effect on most PPCPs removals. The remaining compounds were oxidized by 16–100% in ozonation. DF, sulpiride, ofloxacin (OFL), trimethoprim, and phenolphthalein were not amenable to ultraviolet. After the treatment, the residue OFL, CBZ, and CF in receiving water were identified to pose high risk to aquatic organisms. Considering the complex mixtures emitted into the environment, therapeutic groups psychotropics, stimulant, and FQs were classified as high risk. These findings provide valuable insights into adopting appropriate measures for more efficient PPCPs removals, and emphasize the importance of continued monitoring specific PPCPs and mixtures thereof to safeguard the ecosystem.