Pharmaceuticals in sewage, surface and drinking water in germany

摘要

Next to heavy metals and pesticides in drinking water, pharmaceuticals are of new concern in water research in Germany. Pharmaceuticals are in many aspects similar to water. Because of this, their separation from the water matrix, as well as the analysis, is quite challenging. Many compounds are stable for weeks, but are frequently degraded to stable metabolites, which need also be investigate,d as well as the original substance. Drugs are mostly polar substances and difficult to break down. They pass through the wastewater teatment plant and hence enter the receiving surface waters. If drinking water is produc4ed through a bank filtration, as is often the case in Germany, these drugs can also be found in it in low concentrations. An unanswered question is still whether these polar substances, occurring in surface water often in concentrations higher than 1 #um#g/l, are harmful to the ecosystem and man. In any case, they should not occur in drinking water.