Simultaneous determination of three classes of antibiotics in the suspended solids of swine wastewater by ultrasonic extraction, solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

This work describes a systematic approach to the development of a method for simultaneous determination of three classes of veterinary antibiotics in the suspended solids (SS) of swine wastewater, including five sulfonamides, three tetracyclines and one macrolide (tiamulin). The entire procedures for sample pretreatment, ultrasonic extraction (USE), solid-phase extraction (SPE), and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) quantification were examined and optimized. The recovery efficiencies were found to be 76%-104% for sulfonamides, 81%-112% for tetracyclines, and 51%-64% for tiamulin at three spiking levels. The intra-day and inter-day precisions, as expressed by the relative standard deviation (RSD), were below 17%. The method detection limits (MDLs) were between 0.14 and 7.14 μg/kg, depending on a specific antibiotic studied. The developed method was applied to field samples collected from three concentrated swine feeding plants located in Beijing, Shanghai and Shandong province of China. All the investigated antibiotics were detected in both SS and liquid phase of swine wastewater, with partition coefficients (logK_d) ranging from 0.49 to 2.30. This study demonstrates that the SS can not be ignored when determining the concentrations of antibiotics in swine wastewater.     

Determination of quorum-sensing signal substances in water and solid phases of activated sludge systems using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry

The detection of acyl homoserine lactones(AHLs) in activated sludge is essential for clarifying their function in wastewater treatment processes. An LC–MS/MS method was developed for the detection of AHLs in both the aqueous and solid phases of activated sludge. In addition, the effects of proteases and extracellular polymeric substances(EPS) on the detection of AHLs were evaluated by adding protease inhibitors and extracting EPS,respectively. Recoveries of each AHL were improved by adding 50 μL of protease inhibitor,and recoveries were also improved from 0 to 56.9% to 24.2%–105.8% by EPS extraction.Applying the developed method to determine the type and concentration of AHLs showed that C4-HSL, C_6-HSL, C_8-HSL and 3-oxo-C_8-HSL were widely detected in a suspended activated sludge system. The dominant AHL was C_8-HSL, with a highest concentration of304.3 ng/L. C_4-HSL was mainly distributed in the aqueous phase, whereas C_6-HSL, C_8-HSL and 3-oxo-C_8-HSL were preferentially distributed in the sludge phase.     

Quantification of hookworm ova from wastewater matrices using quantitative PCR

A quantitative PCR(q PCR) assay was used to quantify Ancylostoma caninum ova in wastewater and sludge samples.We estimated the average gene copy numbers for a single ovum using a mixed population of ova.The average gene copy numbers derived from the mixed population were used to estimate numbers of hookworm ova in A.caninum seeded and unseeded wastewater and sludge samples.The newly developed qP CR assay estimated an average of3.7 × 10~3 gene copies per ovum,which was then validated by seeding known numbers of hookworm ova into treated wastewater.The qP CR estimated an average of(1.1 ± 0.1),(8.6 ± 2.9)and(67.3 ± 10.4) ova for treated wastewater that was seeded with(1 ± 0),(10 ± 2) and(100 ± 21)ova,respectively.The further application of the q PCR assay for the quantification of A.caninum ova was determined by seeding a known numbers of ova into the wastewater matrices.The qP CR results indicated that 50%,90% and 67% of treated wastewater(1 L),raw wastewater(1 L)and sludge(~4 g) samples had variable numbers of A.caninum gene copies.After conversion of the q PCR estimated gene copy numbers to ova for treated wastewater,raw wastewater,and sludge samples,had an average of 0.02,1.24 and 67 ova,respectively.The result of this study indicated that qP CR can be used for the quantification of hookworm ova from wastewater and sludge samples;however,caution is advised in interpreting qP CR generated data for health risk assessment.     

Multiresidue determination and potential risks of emerging pesticides in aquatic products from Northeast China by LC–MS/MS

A simple method for determining 33 pesticides with a wide polarity range(log Kow0.6-4.5) in aquatic products was developed based on LC–MS/MS. The target analytes included three types of widely used pesticides: insecticides, fungicides and herbicides. Based on the optimization of ultrasonic assisted extraction and GPC clean-up procedures, the matrix effect, extraction recoveries and LOD were improved distinctively. LOQ of this method was below 0.5 ng/g for all pesticides, which is superior to values in the literature, and the matrix effect was reduced effectively(-14.7% to 7.5%). The method was successfully applied to investigate the pesticide residue levels of twenty-five samples including seven common kinds of fishes from Northeast China. The results showed that all targeted pesticides were present in the fish samples; however, their levels were low, except for atrazine, linuron,ethoprophos, tetrachlorvinphos, acetochlor and fenthion. Atrazine and linuron caught our attention because the concentrations of atrazine in fish samples from Liaoning province were in the range of 0.5-8 ng/g(w/w) with mean concentration of 2.3 ng/g, which were far above those of other pesticides. The levels of linuron were in the range of 0.6-6 ng/g(mean concentration 2.8 ng/g), which were the highest among all targeted pesticides in the Inner Mongolia. This is the first systematic investigation on the characteristics and levels of these pesticides in aquatic products from northeast China. Considering their toxicity and bioaccumulation, the potential risk of atrazine and linuron from consuming aquatic products should be paid more attention.     

Application of comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection for the analysis of selected drug residues in wastewater and surface water

Pharmaceutical residues have become tightly controlled environmental contaminants in recent years, due to their increasing concentration in environmental components. This is mainly caused by their high level of production and everyday consumption. Therefore there is a need to apply new and sufficiently sensitive analytical methods, which can detect the presence of these contaminants even in very low concentrations. This study is focused on the application of a reliable analytical method for the analysis of 10 selected drug residues, mainly from the group of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (salicylic acid, acetylsalicylic acid, clofibric acid, ibuprofen, acetaminophen, caffeine, naproxen, mefenamic acid, ketoprofen, and dicofenac), in wastewaters and surface waters. This analytical method is based on solid phase extraction, derivatization by N-methyl-N-(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide (MSTFA) and finally analysis by comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with Time-of-Flight mass spectrometric detection (GC×GC- TOF MS). Detection limits ranged from 0.18 to 5 ng/L depending on the compound and selected matrix. The method was successfully applied for detection of the presence of selected pharmaceuticals in the Svratka River and in wastewater from the wastewater treatment plant in Brno-Modrice, Czech Republic. The concentration of pharmaceuticals varied from one to several hundreds of ng/L in surface water and from one to several tens of μg/L in wastewater.     

Quantification of viable bacteria in wastewater treatment plants by using propidium monoazide combined with quantitative PCR (PMA-qPCR)

The detection of viable bacteria in wastewater treatment plants(WWTPs) is very important for public health, as WWTPs are a medium with a high potential for waterborne disease transmission. The aim of this study was to use propidium monoazide(PMA) combined with the quantitative polymerase chain reaction(PMA-qPCR) to selectively detect and quantify viable bacteria cells in full-scale WWTPs in China. PMA was added to the concentrated WWTP samples at a final concentration of 100 μmol/L and the samples were incubated in the dark for 5 min, and then lighted for 4 min prior to DNA extraction and qPCR with specific primers for Escherichia coli and Enterococci, respectively. The results showed that PMA treatment removed more than 99% of DNA from non-viable cells in all the WWTP samples, while matrices in sludge samples markedly reduced the effectiveness of PMA treatment. Compared to qPCR, PMA-qPCR results were similar and highly linearly correlated to those obtained by culture assay, indicating that DNA from non-viable cells present in WWTP samples can be eliminated by PMA treatment, and that PMA-qPCR is a reliable method for detection of viable bacteria in environmental samples. This study demonstrated that PMA-qPCR is a rapid and selective detection method for viable bacteria in WWTP samples, and that WWTPs have an obvious function in removing both viable and non-viable bacteria. The results proved that PMA-qPCR is a promising detection method that has a high potential for application as a complementary method to the standard culture-based method in the future.     

Cloud point extraction coupled with HPLC-UV for the determination of phthalate esters in environmental water samples

A method based on cloud point extraction was developed to determine phthalate esters including di-ethyl-phthalate （DEP）, di- （2-ethylhexyl）-phthalate （DEHP） and di-cyclohexyl-phthalate （DCP） in environmental water samples using high-performance liquid chromatography separation and ultraviolet detection （HPLC-UV）. The non-ionic surfactant Triton X-114 was chosen as extraction solvent. The parameters affecting extraction efficiency, such as concentrations of Triton X-114 and Na2SO4, equilibration temperature, equilibration time and centrifugation time were evaluated and optimized. Under the optimum conditions, the method can achieve preconcentration factors of 35, 88, 111 and detection of limits of 2.0, 3.8, 1.0 ng/ml for DEP, DEHP and DCP in 10-ml water sample, respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of trace amount of phathalate esters in effluent water of the wastewater treatment plant and the lixivium of plastic fragments.     

Determination of haloacetic acids in hospital e uent after chlorination by ion chromatography

The ion chromatography combined solid phase extraction （SPE） method was developed for the analysis of low concentration haloacetic acids （HAAs）, a class of disinfection by-products formed from chlorination of hospital wastewater. The monitored HAAs included monochloroacetic acid, monobromoacetic acid, dichloroacetic acid, dibromoacetic acid and trichloroacetic acid. The method employed a sodium hydroxide eluent at a flow rate of 0.8 ml/min, electrolytically generated gradients, and suppressed conductivity detection. To analyze the HAAs in real hospital wastewater samples, C18 pretreatment cartridge was utilized to reduce samples＇ turbidity. Preconcentration with SPE and matrix elimination with treatment cartridges were investigated and found to be able to obtain acceptable detection limits. Linearity, repeatability and detection limits of the above method were evaluated. The detection limits of monobromoacetic acid and dibromoacetic acid were 2.61 μg/L and 1.30 μg/L, respectively, and the other three acids are ranging from 0.48 to 0.82μg/L under 25-fold preconcentration. When the above optimization procedure was applied to three hospital wastewater samples with different treatment processes in Tianjin, it was found that the dichloroacetic acid was the major compound, and the growth ratios of the HAAs after disinfection by sodium hypochlorite were 91.28%, 63.61% and 79.50%, respectively.     

Plants grown on sewage sludge in South China and its relevance to sludge stabilization and metal removal

The production of sewage sludge in China has been increasing sharply in order to treat 40% of the municipal sewage in 2005 as planned by central government. The main sludge disposal method is landfill owing to heavy metal contamination, but it presents an attractive potential for agricultural land application. Experiments were carried out to study the simultaneous metal removal and sludge stabilization byplants. The sludge samples were collected from Datansha Wastewater Treatment Plant of Guangzhou, it contained excessive Cu and Zn comparedwith the Chinese National Standard for Agricultural Use of Sewage Sludge. Plants growing on sludge beds were investigated to follow their growthand metal uptake. 30 sludge plants were identified during 1 year‘s observation. A Zn high-accumulating and high growth rate plant( A/ocas/amacrorrhiza) was selected and grown on sludge beds in plots. The water, organic matter, heavy metals and nutrients contents, the E. colinumber and the cress seed germination index were monitored for the slu,ge samples collected monthly. The plant growth pparameters and its heavy metals contents were also determined. The sewage sludge treated by plants could be stabilized at about 5 months, the E. coli numberwas significantly decreased and the cress seed germination index attained 100%. Crop on sludge could ameliorate the sludge drying. Theexperiments are continuing to find out the appropriate plant combination for simultaneous sludge stabilization and metal removal for an acceptableperiod. Comparisons between the proposed processes and other methods for treating produced sludge such as composting, chemical and bacterial.     

Determination of 4-tert-octylphenol in surface water samples of Jinan in China by solid phase extraction coupled with GC-MS

Octylphenols, considered as xenoestrogens, mainly exist as 4-tert-octylphenol (OP) in aquatic environments. The high stability and accumulation of OP in aquatic systems have caused endocrine disruption. The OP in surface water in Jinan, China was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) coupled with solid phase extraction (SPE). Water samples were extracted by SPE on a cartridge system containing C-18 as sorbent. To increase sensitivity and selectivity, OP was derivatized to 4-tert-octyl-phenoxy silane. With the use of phenanthrene-d10 as internal standard, the detection limit based on signal-to-noise ratio (S/N = 3) was 0.06 ng/mL. The average recovery was from 84.67% to 109.7%. The precision of the method given as the relative standard deviations (RSD) was within the range 6.24%-12.96%. In the target water samples, the concentrations of OP were as follows: 15.88-71.24 ng/L for Jinxiuchuan Reservoir, 3.850-26.68 ng/L for the city moat, 6.930-41.56 ng/L for Daming Lake, 66.03-474.2 ng/L for Xiaoqing River, 14.66-17.72 ng/L for the Yellow River, and 10.60-26.43 ng/L for Queshan Reservoir. The Xiaoqing River was seriously polluted due to the discharge of wastewater from Jinan. Jinxiuchuan Reservoir had a higher concentration of OP compared with the Yellow River and Queshan Reservoir, which is ascribed to the surrounding human activities. These data are reported for the first time, providing strong support for the control of OP pollution in Jinan.     

垃圾填埋场渗滤液中药物和个人护理品的存在与去除

采用固相萃取–高效液相色谱/串联质谱法,分析上海市某生活垃圾填埋场渗滤液中7种典型药物和个人护理品（PPCPs）的浓度水平,并考察该填埋场的渗滤液处理工艺对目标PPCPs的处理效果.结果表明,所建立的分析方法具备较好的回收率（89%~173%）、相对标准偏差（<20%）和方法检出限（0.025~1.0μg/L）,能满足实际环境样品的分析需要.应用该方法检测到渗滤液中目标PPCPs的含量在低于检出限（90%,总去除率可达到97%以上,出水PPCPs浓度范围为     

典型医药活性物质在污水处理厂中的归趋及其风险评估

采用固相萃取、高效液相色谱/串联质谱法 (污泥样品先采用超声波萃取预处理方法提取) 检测分析了包括磺胺类、喹诺酮类、大环类酯类抗生素、心血管类、止痛剂类等8类医药活性物质在重庆某污水厂中的含量水平及其行为归趋.采用 EC/PNEC 综合评价体系评估环境中目标医药活性物质的生态风险,利用质量平衡分析的方法分析了其在水相及污泥相中的分布.结果表明,目标物质在水相中均可检出,其检出浓度在ng/L~μg/L,在污泥样品中可检测出18种目标物质,其浓度在ng/g (干重,下同).仅仅1.1%的目标物质被污泥吸附去除.污水处理厂初级处理及氯化消毒阶段对目标物质无明显去除效果,目标物质的去除主要发生在生物处理阶段,生物的降解或转化作用是目标物质的主要去除机制.EC/PNEC分析表明,磺胺嘧啶、磺胺甲恶唑、氧氟沙星与脱水红霉素在污水处理厂出水及其污泥中综合评价因子均大于1,它们的存在可能对环境产生不同程度的危害.本研究结果表明,污水处理厂并不能完全去除水相中微量的医药物质,为防止排放导致的潜在生态风险,出水及污泥中活性医药物质需采取措施进行进一步的处理.     

PSE-UPLC-MS/MS法测定污泥中9种药物与个人护理品

利用加压溶剂萃取法(PSE)提取、固相萃取法净化并结合超高效液相色谱-串联四极杆质谱仪(UPLC-MS/MS)检测,建立了污水处理厂污泥中7个药剂类别的9种药物与个人护理品(舒必利、咖啡因、美托洛尔、氯霉素、萘啶酸、卡马西平、驱蚊胺、氯贝酸、苯扎贝特)的分析检测方法.在萃取方法中,对加压溶剂萃取的污泥质量和溶剂进行了优化;在净化方法中,对固相萃取柱种类、固相萃取柱容量、洗脱溶剂和洗脱量进行了优选.结果表明,方法检出限(以干质量计,下同)在2.7～65.0 pg/g范围内,加标回收率在67.0%～130%之间,相对标准偏差均小于25%(即标准偏差小于25 μg/L).应用所建立的分析方法,对北京某污水处理厂的脱水污泥进行了测定,9种目标物质含量为nd(未检出)～50.5 ng/g,其中,舒必利、咖啡因、卡马西平、驱蚊胺和氯贝酸在2010年春、夏季2次采样均有检出.      

基于固相萃取及高效液相色谱-荧光检测分析的污泥中氟喹诺酮类抗生素研究方法的开发

氟喹诺酮类抗生素(FQs)作为常见的药品和个人护理用品(PPCPs)在环境中广泛存在.由于在生物体内很难被代谢,FQs会通过粪尿排泄等途径进入城市污水处理系统并最终富集到污泥中.并且,由于其在环境中的累积效应,FQs的存在极易增强致病菌的耐药性,限制了污泥的后续资源化利用.为得到适用于污泥中FQs的分析方法,进一步把握FQs在污水及污泥处理过程中的固/液分配及降解规律,研究中选择4种代表性FQs:氧氟沙星(OFL)、诺氟沙星(NOR)、环丙沙星(CIP)和洛美沙星(LOM)为研究对象,并通过所设计的正交试验,考察了固相萃取材料、萃取体系p H、洗脱剂对FQs的固相萃取效率的影响,在此基础上进一步优化了固相样品中FQs的提取方法,最终建立了细胞破碎,碱式提取(三乙胺/甲醇/水以5/25/75混合),固相萃取富集(SPE),磷酸-三乙胺溶液为缓冲盐流动相,甲醇为有机流动相,梯度荧光扫描的高效液相色谱-荧光(HPLCFLD)检测方法.液态样品中4种FQs的加标回收率采用新方法后可达到82%~103%;固态样品中4种FQs的加标回收率也可达到71%~101%.同时,为进一步确认不同运行条件对污泥吸附FQs能力的影响,针对好氧、缺氧和厌氧污泥分别进行了吸附试验研究,发现处于不同活性状态的污泥(厌氧、缺氧和好氧污泥)对FQs的吸附能力呈现出递减的趋势,但对FQs的吸附率都达到90%以上.该结论也证实了实际污水处理厂所去除的50%的FQs主要是通过污泥吸附这一途径实现的.     

黄浦江流域典型药物和个人护理品的含量及分布特征

采用固相萃取-高效液相色谱/串联质谱法(SPE-HPLC-MS/MS)分析上海市黄浦江流域7种典型药物和个人护理品(PPCPs)的含量水平.结果表明,所建立的分析方法具备良好的回收率(87%~107%)、相对标准偏差(<14%)及方法定量限(0.1~1.1ng/L),满足水体中微量污染物的检测要求.应用该方法检测得到,上海市黄浦江流域水体中目标 PPCPs的含量在相似文献   

活性污泥二次污染问题的探讨

讨论了城市污水经过A／O工艺处理时活性污泥的二次污染问题。所采用的方法是将原水、处理后的出水及活性污泥用乙酸丁酯萃取、萃取相经过真空浓缩后，采用GC／MS测定了样品中的有机化合物。结果表明，在A／O工艺处理城市污水过程中，活性污泥的吸附作用是主要的，降解作用是次要的：A／O工艺所排放的活性污泥仍然是一种危险的污染物。     

脱氮活性污泥总DNA提取研究

文章就提取SBR脱氮反应器中活性污泥总DNA的预处理、细胞破壁、去除蛋白质等方法进行了比较研究。将不同方法提取得到的DNA样品进行琼脂糖凝胶电泳、紫外吸光度和ERIC-PCR检测。结果表明,采取TENP、PBS溶液和玻璃珠震荡对活性污泥进行预处理,SDS和物理冻融结合破碎细胞,一次酚/氯仿和饱和NaCl溶液离心去除蛋白质的DNA提取操作,可以得到腐殖酸、蛋白质含量较少的活性污泥DNA样品。研究发现:从活性污泥提取的DNA样品中含有对PCR反应体系有明显抑制作用的杂质。通过稀释,控制DNA浓度40～13ng/μL,可以减小杂质的影响,实现将活性污泥DNA样品直接用于PCR扩增。ERIC-PCR得到的DNA产物凝胶电泳结果:条带清晰稳定有特异性,为进一步应用分子生态学方法研究活性污泥的性质奠定了基础。     

Adsorption behavior of sulfamethazine in an activated sludge process treating swine wastewater

Swine wastewater is an important pollution source of antibiotics entering the aquatic environment. In this work,the adsorption behavior of sulfamethazine(SMN),a commonlyused sulfonamide antibiotic,on activated sludge from a sequencing batch reactor treating swine wastewater was investigated. The results show that the adsorption of SMN on activated sludge was an initially rapid process and reached equilibrium after 6 hr. The removal efficiency of SMN from the water phase increased with an increasing concentration of mixed liquor suspended solids,while the adsorbed concentration of SMN decreased. Solution pH influenced both the speciation of SMN and the surface properties of activated sludge,thus significantly impacting the adsorption process. A linear partition model could give a good fit for the equilibrium concentrations of SMN at the test temperatures(i.e.,10,20 and 30°C). The partition coefficient(Kd) was determined to be 100.5 L/kg at 20°C,indicating a quite high adsorption capacity for SMN. Thermodynamic analysis revealed that SMN adsorption on activated sludge was an exothermic process. This study could help to clarify the fate and behavior of sulfonamide antibiotics in the activated sludge process and assess consequent environmental risks arising from sludge disposal as well.