1 Pharmaceuticals, Personal Care Products, and Artificial …
31
region is also important, and future studies should provide more detailed information on the local aquifers (e.g., geology, recharge, flow direction, residence
time) and sampling wells (e.g., depth, usage). This latter information was not
available in almost half the studies reviewed here.
3. While a diverse variety of PPCPs and ASs in Asian groundwater have been studied, their transformation products have received little attention, though transformation products and human metabolites have been generally gaining increasing
attention in recent years. In biological processes such as wastewater treatment,
the removal of a compound often simply involves transformation of the compound, and the transformation products can be more recalcitrant or toxic than
the parent compounds (Postigo and Barceló 2015). The occurrence and fate of
transformation products of various CECs in groundwater have been studied in
North America and Europe (Postigo and Barceló 2015), but rarely in Asia (Xiang
et al. 2018), suggesting future opportunities for research.
4. In many studies, the groundwater survey is a one-time event; however, temporal change in PPCPs and ASs in groundwater is an important factor, as in the
case of the Tokyo groundwater discussed in this chapter. As groundwater has a
long residence time, groundwater contaminants often reflect past pollution conditions. For example, while groundwater is generally less contaminated by CECs
than nearby river waters, several CECs can be present in groundwater at higher
concentrations than in river waters, as in the case of some persistent industrial
compounds which have been banned but remain in the groundwater as a legacy
(Jurado et al. 2012). Therefore, continuous efforts should be made to monitor
groundwater quality, for the sake of the human and environmental future.
Acknowledgements We thank the members of the Laboratory of Environmental and Analytical
Chemistry at the Prefectural University of Kumamoto, and the officers of the local governments in
Tokyo for their kind help in sample collection and analysis. This study was financially supported
by the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), Japan, Toyama Prefectural University,
and Kurita Water and Environment Foundation (KWEF) research grant.
References
Alvarez PJJ, Illman WA (2005) Biodegradation principles. In: Schnoor JL, Zehnder A,
Alvarez PJJ, Illman WA (eds) Bioremediation and natural attenuation. https://doi.org/10.1002/
047173862X.ch3
Aronson D, Weeks J, Meylan B, Guiney PD, Howard PH (2012) Environmental release, environmental concentrations, and ecological risk of N, N-Diethyl-m-toluamide (DEET). Integr Environ
Assess Manag 8:135–166
aus der Beek T, Weber F-A, Bergmann A, Hickmann S, Ebert I, Hein A et al (2016) Pharmaceuticals
in the environment—global occurrences and perspectives. Environ Toxicol Chem 35:823–835
Aydin S, Aydin ME, Ulvi A (2019) Monitoring the release of anti-inflammatory and analgesic
pharmaceuticals in the receiving environment. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26:36887–36902
31
region is also important, and future studies should provide more detailed information on the local aquifers (e.g., geology, recharge, flow direction, residence
time) and sampling wells (e.g., depth, usage). This latter information was not
available in almost half the studies reviewed here.
3. While a diverse variety of PPCPs and ASs in Asian groundwater have been studied, their transformation products have received little attention, though transformation products and human metabolites have been generally gaining increasing
attention in recent years. In biological processes such as wastewater treatment,
the removal of a compound often simply involves transformation of the compound, and the transformation products can be more recalcitrant or toxic than
the parent compounds (Postigo and Barceló 2015). The occurrence and fate of
transformation products of various CECs in groundwater have been studied in
North America and Europe (Postigo and Barceló 2015), but rarely in Asia (Xiang
et al. 2018), suggesting future opportunities for research.
4. In many studies, the groundwater survey is a one-time event; however, temporal change in PPCPs and ASs in groundwater is an important factor, as in the
case of the Tokyo groundwater discussed in this chapter. As groundwater has a
long residence time, groundwater contaminants often reflect past pollution conditions. For example, while groundwater is generally less contaminated by CECs
than nearby river waters, several CECs can be present in groundwater at higher
concentrations than in river waters, as in the case of some persistent industrial
compounds which have been banned but remain in the groundwater as a legacy
(Jurado et al. 2012). Therefore, continuous efforts should be made to monitor
groundwater quality, for the sake of the human and environmental future.
Acknowledgements We thank the members of the Laboratory of Environmental and Analytical
Chemistry at the Prefectural University of Kumamoto, and the officers of the local governments in
Tokyo for their kind help in sample collection and analysis. This study was financially supported
by the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), Japan, Toyama Prefectural University,
and Kurita Water and Environment Foundation (KWEF) research grant.
References
Alvarez PJJ, Illman WA (2005) Biodegradation principles. In: Schnoor JL, Zehnder A,
Alvarez PJJ, Illman WA (eds) Bioremediation and natural attenuation. https://doi.org/10.1002/
047173862X.ch3
Aronson D, Weeks J, Meylan B, Guiney PD, Howard PH (2012) Environmental release, environmental concentrations, and ecological risk of N, N-Diethyl-m-toluamide (DEET). Integr Environ
Assess Manag 8:135–166
aus der Beek T, Weber F-A, Bergmann A, Hickmann S, Ebert I, Hein A et al (2016) Pharmaceuticals
in the environment—global occurrences and perspectives. Environ Toxicol Chem 35:823–835
Aydin S, Aydin ME, Ulvi A (2019) Monitoring the release of anti-inflammatory and analgesic
pharmaceuticals in the receiving environment. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26:36887–36902