Identification and determination of selected organic micropollutants in sewage treatment plants effluent, soil and agricultural products

Pharmaceuticals, personal care products and steroid hormones are among the anthropogenic emerging contaminants that are generally released into the environment via sewage. Sewage treatment plants have an important role in reducing or removal of these contaminants, however, their complete removal is not always possible and considerable amounts of such compounds enter the environment (sometimes via sewage sludge). Also, considering the various applications of the treated wastewater in irrigation of gardens and farmlands, transfer of the pollution to soil, crops and groundwater, is always a possibility. In this research, STP effluent channel, farmland soil and agricultural crops have been investigated to reveal the presence and concentration of pharmaceuticals and steroids. Qualitative sampling and analyses were conducted in four rounds. As result, acetaminophen and sulfamethoxazole, and four steroid hormones; equilin, strone, estriol and ethynyl estradiol, were identified and set as the target analytes for quantitative determination. Then, STP influent and effluent, soil and crops were sampled and analyzed, regarding standard QA/QC criteria. All of the target analytes were observed in STP effluent and influent and also the efficiency of removal were implicitly demonstrated. It was revealed as well that the target contaminants were absorbed by plants, while no adsorption on soil particles was detected. So, irrigation of farms by contaminated water, would result in ground water pollution, in addition to contaminated agricultural crops.