Chemical Imaging of Pharmaceuticals in Biofilms for Wastewater Treatment Using Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry
Journal article, 2023

The occurrence of pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment is a global water quality challenge for several reasons, such as deleterious effects on ecological and human health, antibiotic resistance development, and endocrine-disrupting effects on aquatic organisms. To optimize their removal from the water cycle, understanding the processes during biological wastewater treatment is crucial. Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry imaging was successfully applied to investigate and analyze the distribution of pharmaceuticals as well as endogenous molecules in the complex biological matrix of biofilms for wastewater treatment. Several compounds and their localization were identified in the biofilm section, including citalopram, ketoconazole, ketoconazole transformation products, and sertraline. The images revealed the pharmaceuticals gathered in distinct sites of the biofilm matrix. While citalopram penetrated the biofilm deeply, sertraline remained confined in its outer layer. Both pharmaceuticals seemed to mainly colocalize with phosphocholine lipids. Ketoconazole concentrated in small areas with high signal intensity. The approach outlined here presents a powerful strategy for visualizing the chemical composition of biofilms for wastewater treatment and demonstrates its promising utility for elucidating the mechanisms behind pharmaceutical and antimicrobial removal in biological wastewater treatment.

SIMS

pharmaceutical

wastewater

granular sludge

biofilm

organic micropollutant

mass spectrometry imaging

Author

Cecilia Burzio

Chalmers, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Water Environment Technology

Amir Saeid Mohammadi

Chalmers, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Water Environment Technology

Per Malmberg

Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Oskar Modin

Chalmers, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Water Environment Technology

Frank Persson

Chalmers, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Water Environment Technology

Britt-Marie Wilen

Chalmers, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Water Environment Technology

Environmental Science and Technology

0013936X (ISSN) 15205851 (eISSN)

Vol. 57 19 7431-7441

Removal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in advanced wastewater treatment processes

Formas (2016-00990), 2017-01-01 -- 2019-12-31.

Subject Categories

Analytical Chemistry

Microbiology

Environmental Sciences

DOI

10.1021/acs.est.2c05027

PubMed

37130040

More information

Latest update

7/5/2023 1