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Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering >> 2016, Volume 10, Issue 6 doi: 10.1007/s11783-016-0868-4

Recent advances in pharmaceuticals and personal care products in the surface water and sediments in China

. State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China. .. State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Environmental Risk Assessment and Control on Chemical Process, School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China. .. Beijing Key Laboratory for Emerging Organic Contaminants Control, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

Available online: 2016-09-20

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Abstract

Recent publications on PPCPs in surface water environment in China were reviewed. Antibiotics received more attention than other PPCPs in surface water environment. Uneven attention has been focused across different study areas in China. Sulfamethoxazole showed the most significant environmental risk in surface water. Higher risks were posed by PPCPs in sediments than in surface water. Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) have been regarded as an emerging problem in the surface water environment in the past few decades. In China, although related studies were initiated several years ago, an increasing number of studies on this topic have been conducted in recent years. These studies have expanded knowledge of their occurrence, behavior and associated risk in the surface water environment in China. This review compiles the most recent literature related to the studies of PPCPs in the surface water environment in China. It includes PPCP occurrence in surface water and sediments, their geographical distribution, and outcomes of the associated risk assessment. It shows that antibiotics have received much more attention in both surface water and sediments than other PPCPs. Compared to other countries; most antibiotics in the collected sediments in China showed higher contamination levels. Many more study areas have been covered in recent years; however, attention has been given to only specific areas. Environmental risk assessment based on risk quotients indicated that sulfamethoxazole presents the most significant environmental risk to relevant aquatic organisms; followed by ofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, enrofloxacin, 17α-ethynylestradiol, ibuprofen and diclofenac. Despite limited research on the environmental risk assessment of PPCPs in sediments, higher risks posed by PPCPs in the sediments rather than surface water were identified highlighting the need for further risk assessment of PPCPs in sediment samples.

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