Occurrence of pharmaceuticals in the Eastern Gulf of Finland (Russia)

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international Vol. 28; no. 48; pp. 68871 - 68884
• Main Authors: Chernova, Ekaterina, Zhakovskaya, Zoya, Berezina, Nadezhda
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.12.2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Anthropogenic factors; Antibiotics; Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Caffeine; Carbamazepine; Chemical analysis; Ciprofloxacin; Clarithromycin; Diclofenac; Dilution; Drugs; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental Monitoring; Environmental science; Finland; Ketoprofen; Marine environment; Pharmaceutical Preparations; Pharmaceuticals; Research Article; Rivers; Seawater; Sediment samplers; Trimethoprim; Urbanization; Waste Water Technology; Water analysis; Water Management; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis; Water Pollution Control; Finland; Gulf of Finland; The Baltic Sea; Gulf of Finland; Mass-spectrometry; Pharmaceuticals; Seawater; Russia
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-15250-1

The presence of substances of emerging concern—pharmaceuticals—in marine environments has been studied to a lesser extent compared to fresh and wastewaters. This is the first study of pharmaceutical distribution in the Russian part of the Baltic Sea. Among 18 pharmaceuticals previously detected in influent waters of Saint-Petersburg WWTPs, 7 compounds (caffeine [81% of samples], carbamazepine [81%], ketoprofen [60%], diclofenac [23 %], ciprofloxacin, trimethoprim, and clarithromycin) were recorded in seawater samples in a range of measured concentrations from 0.1 to 4452 ng L −1 . Antibiotics were presented in trace concentrations. In sediment samples, 6 pharmaceuticals (0.1–66.2 ng g −1 ) were detected. The most common was carbamazepine (80%). The remaining compounds were located in decreasing frequency as follows: ketoprofen, trimethoprim, drotaverine, tetracycline, and ciprofloxacin. Some specific features of the Gulf of Finland affecting the distribution of pharmaceutical concentrations were highlighted—among the most important, the megapolis of St. Petersburg with its population over 5 million and freshwater input by the Neva River (high urbanization of the territory with a potent dilution factor). We discussed the suitable set of anthropogenic markers for the Russian part of the Gulf of Finland.