Evidence mapPaperPMID 39899207Full record

ArticleEnvironmental science and pollution research international2025

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products in Canadian municipal wastewater and biosolids: occurrence, fate, and time trends 2010-2013 to 2022.

Sarah B Gewurtz, Alexandra S Auyeung, Steven Teslic, Shirley Anne Smyth

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Environmental science and pollution research international, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Sarah B GewurtzScience and Technology Branch, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Burlington, ON, L7S 1A1, Canada. sarah.gewurtz@ec.gc.ca.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1997-1336
Alexandra S AuyeungScience and Technology Branch, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Burlington, ON, L7S 1A1, Canada.
Steven TeslicScience and Technology Branch, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Burlington, ON, L7S 1A1, Canada.
Shirley Anne SmythScience and Technology Branch, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Burlington, ON, L7S 1A1, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6742-7744

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The concentrations of 135 pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) were determined in raw influent, final effluent, and treated biosolids at Canadian wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) to evaluate the fate of PPCPs through liquid and solids trains of typical treatment types used in Canada and to assess changes in PPCP concentrations in wastewater matrices between 2010-2013 and 2022. PPCPs dominant in influent and effluent included the antidiabetic metformin, analgesics/anti-inflammatories (acetaminophen, ibuprofen, 2-hydroxy-ibuprofen), caffeine and its metabolite (1,7 - dimethylxanthine), theophylline (a bronchodilator and metabolite of caffeine), an insect repellent (N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide, DEET), and iopamidol (a contrast media for X-rays). PPCPs dominant in biosolids differed from those in influent/effluent and included antibiotics (fluoroquinolones and doxycycline), antidepressants (sertraline, citalopram, and amitriptyline), a preservative and antimicrobial agent (triclosan), an antihistamine (diphenhydramine), and an antifungal (clotrimazole). These elevated concentrations in influent/effluent and biosolids reflected their use in Canadian communities. PPCPs dominant in influent/effluent had relatively low hydrophobicity whereas those in biosolids tended to be more hydrophobic, or electrostatic forces governed their sorption. Higher removal of PPCPs was generally observed at WWTPs that used biological treatment compared to primary physical/chemical treatment. PPCP concentration changes in wastewater matrices between 2010-2013 and 2022 were influenced by risk management measures, warnings, the development of new pharmaceuticals, the COVID-19 pandemic, and other factors. These time trends reflected the limited information available on PPCP use in Canada. Continued periodic monitoring of PPCPs is recommended to fill data gaps on community use and release to the environment.

Indexed as

CosmeticsWastewaterWater Pollutants, ChemicalCanadaEnvironmental MonitoringPharmaceutical PreparationsWaste Disposal, FluidCosmeticsPharmaceutical PreparationsWastewaterWater Pollutants, ChemicalBiosolidsInfluent and effluentPharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs)Temporal changesWastewater treatment plants (WWTPs)

Identifiers

PMID39899207
PMCPMC11868229

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.