Occurrence of pharmaceuticals in wastewater from medical institutions and development of advanced water treatment systems

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K16218
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Environmental risk control and evaluation
• Research Institution: Osaka University of Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Principal Investigator: Takashi Azuma 大阪薬科大学, 薬学部, 助教 (10634222)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 医薬品類 / 病院排水 / 下水処理場 / 河川環境 / 除去効率 / 負荷量 / 高度処理 / 生物処理

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Occurrence of pharmaceuticals in hospital effluents in Japan was investigated. The results indicate that multiple compounds were detectable in hospital effluents over a wide concentration range. Although these detected compounds were partly removed in the conventional water treatment processes done in the sewage treatment plants, the remaining amounts were discharged to the river environment, and higher contribution to the mass flux of pharmaceuticals in hospital effluents to river waters was observed in some compounds. Ozonation was effective in removing large amounts of these recalcitrant compounds, indicating the effectiveness of installing advanced water treatment systems not only in sewage treatment plants but also in hospitals before discharge of the wastewater.

Free Research Field

環境衛生学、衛生薬学、水環境工学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、医療機関に由来する排水中に存在する医薬品の存在実態と環境への負荷影響を明らかにするとともに、環境中に流入する医薬品成分による環境リスクの削減又は軽減対策として、水処理の高度化の展望を明らかにしている。本研究により得られた成果は、医療先進国であることが知られている日本において意義深く、欧米等の先進国や、急速に発展を続けるアジア諸国においても同様の対策検討の発展への寄与が期待される。