Identification and quantification of ibuprofen in conventional wastewater treatment plants in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and their discharge to the aquatic environment

Pharmaceuticals are continually being introduced into the influent of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). The occurrence and fate of trace-level contamination of pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment has been recognized as one of the emerging issues in environmental chemistry. The effluents of wastewater treatment plants, usually directly emitted to the environment, often contain the anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen. Studies on the occurrence of pharmaceuticals show that the widely used pharmaceutical ibuprofen is present in relevant concentrations in the environment indicate toxic effects on biota and the lack of profile in sewage removal provided by the city. For this purpose, a survey on the presence of ibuprofen in urban wastewater of Rio de Janeiro was carried out. It were evaluated ibuprofen concentration in the affluent and effluent from WWTP Penha and Ilha do Governador, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Samples were collected along the line of treatment of each WWTP, and for clean up the samples was solid phase extraction (SPE), analysed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), assisted by diode array detector (DAD) techniques. The removal efficiency of ibuprofen in the wastewater treatment plants was roughly evaluated. Ibuprofen was detected in all samples analysed, which confirms the low removal efficiency of conventional treatment systems, aerobes and anaerobes.