Fate of selected pharmaceutical products and hormones through municipal activated sludge process

Considering that reliable up-to-date information is limited even for conventional wastewater treatment plants, the contamination profiles of 14 municipal treatment plants are about to be measured, as part of the AMPERES Project, with the determination of the concentrations of 28 pharmaceuticals and 5 hormones analyzed on dissolved and particulate phases. This paper reports preliminary results recorded for a selection of these pollutants quantified in six full-scale activated sludge process (ASP) during 2 or 3 successive 24h-periods. The influent, effluent and return of sludge dewatering were sampled with refrigerated automated samplers equipped with Teflon tubings and glass containers. Strict procedures of cleaning, sampling and field blanks were established and carried out.