Grants and Fellowships | 2014

17 Multi-Year Research Grants Reclaimed Wastewater and Sludge as Sources for Pharmaceutical Compounds: Fate in Soil and Groundwater Current understanding of the fate of pharmaceutical compounds (PCs) in the soil-water environment is highly limited. In this project we focus on three principal, inter-related aspects: sorption interactions, degradability, and migration behavior of PCs in the soil- water environment. The main objectives of the proposal were to evaluate: (1) the behavior of PCs in top-layer soil; (2) migration behavior of PCs, assessing the threat of PC release to groundwater quality; and (3) the biodegradability of PCs in treated wastewater-irrigated soils. The sorptive behavior and mobility of PCs in the top soil layer were studied in column experiments and biodegradation was studied in microcosms. Our data suggest that application of biosolids to agricultural soil may result in greater retardation of PCs in the top layer of the soil; however, the mobility of more polar and water soluble PCs may not be affected by the addition of biosolids. Solution chemistry (i.e., irrigation with reclaimed wastewater) can alter the behavior of PCs in the top-soil profile: the high pH level of treated wastewater enhances the mobility of PCs that classify as weak organic acids, and high concentrations of dissolved organic matter (DOM) may also enhance mobility of PCs. Regarding the latter point, the ratio of DOM:PC in the solution must be relatively high to facilitate PC-DOM interactions. Our data obtained from microcosm experiments show that carbamazepine (CBZ) is highly stable in soils with t 1/2 > 300 days. All other tested PCs were found to degrade in the soils, without significant differences between soils that were irrigated with treated wastewater or fresh water. Due to the high persistence of CBZ, we evaluate the possibility that pure culture of the white-rote fungus Pleurotus ostreatus is capable of degrading this compound. Our data show high efficiency of P. ostreatus to remove CBZ from solution using both manganese peroxidase and cytochrome p-450 monooxigenase enzymes. Data obtained from this project suggest that active PCs introduced to the environment via irrigation with reclaimed wastewater and/or sludge application are relatively persistent; thus, they have the potential to contaminate water resources and be retained in the top soil layer. Research publications (1) Arye, G., Dror, I., & Berkowitz, B. (2011). Fate and transport of carbamazepine in soil aquifer treatment (SAT) infiltration basin soils. Chemosphere, 82 (2), 244-252. (2) Golan-Rozen, N., Chefetz, B., Ben-Ari, J., Geva, J., & Hadar, Y. (2011). Transformation of the recalcitrant pharmaceutical compound carbamazepine by Pleurotus ostreatus: Role of cytochrome P450 monooxygenase and manganese peroxidase. Environmental Science & Technology, 45 , 6800–6805. (3) Navon, R., Hernandes-Ruiz, S., Chorover, J., & Chefetz, B. (2011). Interactions of carbamazepine in soil: Effects of dissolved organic matter. Journal of Environmental Quality, 40 , 942-948. (4) Borgman, O., & Chefetz, B. (2013). Combined effects of biosolids application and irrigation with reclaimed wastewater on transport of pharmaceutical compounds in arable soils. Water Research, 47 , 3431-3443. (5) Grossberger, A., Hadar, Y., Borch, T., & Chefetz, B. (2014). Biodegradability of pharmaceutical compounds in agricultural soils irrigated with treated wastewater. Environmental Pollution, 185 , 168-177. Benny Chefetz 1 Brian Berkowitz 2 Ishai Dror 2 Yitzhak Hadar 1 1. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem 2. Weizmann Institute of Science 2008-2012