Detection of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) and its formation potential in hospital wastewater

Environmental Science and Pollution Research (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

Hospital wastewaters contain high concentrations of pharmaceutical residues and other chemicals, and may present an important source for NDMA (N-nitrosodimethylamine) and its precursors in the aquatic environment. The present study evaluates the contribution of hospital wastewater to NDMA environmental load and identifies important sources within the hospital itself. For this purpose, wastewaters from five large hospitals in Israel were analyzed, and concentrations of NDMA were found in the range of 20.7–56.7 ng/L, which are similar to NDMA concentrations typically detected in domestic wastewater. The relative contribution of day surgery, oncology, laboratories, and central kitchen (in Sheba hospital) to the daily load of NDMA was calculated as 20.2%, 8.2%, 10%, and 43.2%, respectively. In addition, NDMA concentration in Sheba’s mixed wastewater stream, measured throughout a complete working day, was highest at 14:00. This suggests the possible impact of lunchtime on NDMA concentration, and emphasizes the dominant contribution of central kitchen waste. Finally, formation potential of NDMA in the mixed stream was 7300 ng/L, in the upper range of domestic wastewater, but could be decreased by 70% during subsequent aerobic biological wastewater treatment.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Adi Zilberman for her work in the biological wastewater treatment system and to Dr. Igal Gozlan for his guide on the GCMS method adjustment.

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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

Funding

The study was partially funded by the Azrieli College research fund.

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Affiliations

  1. Environmental Technologies, Department of Material Engineering, Azrieli College of Engineering, 9103501, Jerusalem, Israel

    Shaanan Sack & Yaal Lester

  2. The Water Research Center, Porter School for Environment and Earth Sciences, Faculty of Exact Sciences, Tel Aviv University, 69978, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Dror Avisar & Aviv Kaplan

Authors
  1. Shaanan Sack
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  2. Dror Avisar
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  3. Aviv Kaplan
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  4. Yaal Lester
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Contributions

SS carried out all the fieldwork, including sampling wastewaters from the different hospitals, and was a major contributor in writing the manuscript. DA assisted with the analytical methods. AK operated the GC-MS. YL designed and managed the entire study. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yaal Lester.

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Sack, S., Avisar, D., Kaplan, A. et al. Detection of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) and its formation potential in hospital wastewater. Environ Sci Pollut Res (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-12785-1

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Keywords

  • Hospital wastewaters
  • NDMA
  • Formation potential
  • Biological treatment