The presence of pharmaceuticals and endocrine-disrupting
chemicals (EDCs) in wastewater treatment
plant effluents is an issue of great concern due to the
negative effects that these compounds may have on human
health and ecosystems. The present study aims to assess the
capacity of two aquatic plants (
Lemna
sp. and
Spirogyra
sp.), commonly found in polishing ponds, for removing six
pharmaceutical compounds (diclofenac, acetaminophen,
ibuprofen, carbamazepine, clofibric acid, and propranolol),
two EDCs (17α-ethinylestradiol and bisphenol A), and one
stimulant (caffeine) under laboratory-scale conditions.
Planted and unplanted reactors fed with secondary-treated
wastewater or ultrapure water in both covered and uncovered
conditions were studied. The highest removal effi-
ciencies, which ranged from 31 to 100 %, were achieved in
uncovered planted systems containing secondary-treated
wastewater after 20 days of incubation. The results demonstrated
that non-charged compounds with a log Kow
between 2 and 4 were affected by the presence of vegetation,
probably due to their plant uptake, whereas negatively
charged compounds were not. This highlights that the
presence of plants in polishing ponds plays an important
role in the removal of pharmaceuticals and EDCs.
