soil such as increase of sodium adsorption ratio, hydraulic conductivity and aggregate stability due to high sodium adsorption ratio [SAR] and exchangeable sodium
percentage [ESP], and consequences in the rooting zone [11–16]. In addition,
wastewater irrigation results in continuous discharges of heavy metals, pathogens,
resistant organic pollutants, and other “contaminants of emerging concern” into the
agro-food system. The focus of human/environmental concern has now included
pharmaceutical active compounds (PhACs) that enter the environment predominantly through domestic routes and ultimately end up in biosolids from wastewater
treatment plants (WWTPs). Humans and animals are the main producers of pharmaceutical residues in the environment, although PhACs are also used to control the
bacterial infections of plants through injection or soil drenching. Soil amendments,
fertilizers made of contaminated animal manure, and biosolids also introduce pharmaceuticals into water cycle through drifting, surface runoff, irrigation, and leaching
of residues deep into the soil layers [17, 18].
PhACs have hardly been studied in soil environmental matrices under real
agricultural conditions, and the very limited data on their occurrence is associated
with research on pharmaceutical removal following effluent irrigation onto land
[19]. The chemical risk assessment frameworks only require testing in simulation
soil studies, usually applying radioactively labelled compounds and often studying
each individual compound separately. The results of these studies are actually poorly
transferable to specific situations such soils irrigated with TWW with a high content
of organic matter and a large diversity of PhACs, making the prediction of their fate
still very difficult.
The aim of this chapter is to report the main factors that play an important role on
the accumulation of PhACs in soil after irrigation with TWW, and special focus will
be on a new tool based on enantiomeric fractionation of chiral PhACs to investigate
their fate in field studies where the use of radioactively labelled compounds is not
allowed.
2 Pharmaceuticals in Soil: Occurrence, Sources, and Fate
PhACs are considered as emerging contaminants as many of them are ubiquitous,
persistent, and biologically active substances. The main route for them to enter the
soil is through treated or untreated wastewater irrigation and biosolid amendments.
The fate of PhACs in soil has been scarcely investigated due to complexity of the
soil-water-plant system. The potential occurrence, sources, and fate of PhACs in
agricultural soils irrigated with wastewater or amended with biosolids are serious
causes for concern due to their potential uptake by crops and their potential introduction into the food chain [20].
Soil Sorption and Degradation Studies of Pharmaceutical Compounds Present in. . .
145
percentage [ESP], and consequences in the rooting zone [11–16]. In addition,
wastewater irrigation results in continuous discharges of heavy metals, pathogens,
resistant organic pollutants, and other “contaminants of emerging concern” into the
agro-food system. The focus of human/environmental concern has now included
pharmaceutical active compounds (PhACs) that enter the environment predominantly through domestic routes and ultimately end up in biosolids from wastewater
treatment plants (WWTPs). Humans and animals are the main producers of pharmaceutical residues in the environment, although PhACs are also used to control the
bacterial infections of plants through injection or soil drenching. Soil amendments,
fertilizers made of contaminated animal manure, and biosolids also introduce pharmaceuticals into water cycle through drifting, surface runoff, irrigation, and leaching
of residues deep into the soil layers [17, 18].
PhACs have hardly been studied in soil environmental matrices under real
agricultural conditions, and the very limited data on their occurrence is associated
with research on pharmaceutical removal following effluent irrigation onto land
[19]. The chemical risk assessment frameworks only require testing in simulation
soil studies, usually applying radioactively labelled compounds and often studying
each individual compound separately. The results of these studies are actually poorly
transferable to specific situations such soils irrigated with TWW with a high content
of organic matter and a large diversity of PhACs, making the prediction of their fate
still very difficult.
The aim of this chapter is to report the main factors that play an important role on
the accumulation of PhACs in soil after irrigation with TWW, and special focus will
be on a new tool based on enantiomeric fractionation of chiral PhACs to investigate
their fate in field studies where the use of radioactively labelled compounds is not
allowed.
2 Pharmaceuticals in Soil: Occurrence, Sources, and Fate
PhACs are considered as emerging contaminants as many of them are ubiquitous,
persistent, and biologically active substances. The main route for them to enter the
soil is through treated or untreated wastewater irrigation and biosolid amendments.
The fate of PhACs in soil has been scarcely investigated due to complexity of the
soil-water-plant system. The potential occurrence, sources, and fate of PhACs in
agricultural soils irrigated with wastewater or amended with biosolids are serious
causes for concern due to their potential uptake by crops and their potential introduction into the food chain [20].
Soil Sorption and Degradation Studies of Pharmaceutical Compounds Present in. . .
145