Occurrence of pharmaceutical micropollutants in Lake Nahuel Huapi, Argentine Patagonia

BEAMUD G.; FERNANDEZ H; NICHELA D; CREGO P; GONZALEZ-POLO M; LATINI L; AGUIAR MB; DIBLASI L; PAROLO ME; TEMPORETTI P

ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY

SETAC PRESS

Lugar: Buenos Aires; Año: 2024

0730-7268

Tourism is one of the most important activities for the economy of Nor Patagonia Argentina. In Bariloche City, located on the shores of Lake Nahuel Huapi (LNH), both the permanent the temporary populations have increased significantly in recent decades and this has not necessarily been accompanied by an improvement in sewage networks. Emerging micropollutants, such as pharmaceutical compounds, reach aquatic systems directly, in the absence of a domestic sewage network, or through effluents from wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) which do not efficiently remove these substances and represent a major threat to the environment. Therefore, the objective of this study was to monitor the presence of pharmaceutical compounds discharged both through wastewater effluents and diffusely from housing developments into LNH. The results obtained demonstrate the presence of pharmaceuticals in LNH with concentrations ranging from ND to 110.6 ng L-1 (caffeine). The highest pharmaceutical concentration recorded in WWTP influent corresponds to caffeine (41728 ng L-1), while the lowest concentration is paracetamol (18.8 ng L-1). The removal efficiency in the WWTP of pharmaceuticals was calculated ranging from 0 % for carbamazepine to 66 % for ciprofloxacin. This antibiotic showed the lowest % of attenuation (73%) in LNH. These results on the occurrence of a wide variety of pharmaceuticals are the first generated in Patagonia, representing a regional baseline for this type of micropollutants and valuable information for the subsequent design of removal strategies for emerging pharmaceutical pollutants in surface water.