الملخص الإنجليزي
ABSTRACT
Many pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are found in the treated wastewater effluent which may be transferred into the environment causing serious en vironmental issues. For example, plant roots show their abilities to uptake and transfer of pharmaceuticals into plant tissues. Pharmaceuticals can translocate into plant tissues through their roots from biosolids, amended soils and treated wastewater used in irriga tion. This study was conducted to assess the presence of pharmaceuticals in soils and crops irrigated by treated wastewater in Oman. The study was aimed to modify an exist ing developed method for plant and soil samples extraction for pharmaceuticals analysis and to evaluate the potential of plant uptake of four commonly used pharmaceuticals in Oman: amoxicillin, sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim and ibuprofen by radish (Raphanus raphanistrum subsp. sativius) in soil culture. Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrome try/ Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) instrument was used to analyse and measure the concentrations of the pharmaceuticals. In additions to groundwater and treated wastewater used for irrigation, there were two spiked treatments; high spiked concentra tion (5 mg/l) and low spiked concentration (1 mg/l). The results of the study concluded that Trimethoprim and ibuprofen were not detected in any samples of soils and plants. Sulfamethoxazole accumulated in radish roots with 1.06 + 0.63 and 1.89 + 0.68 mg/kg for low and high spiked concentrations, respectively. Amoxicillin accumulated in roots in concentrations of 0.81 +1.41 mg/kg in low spiked treatment and 0.91 $ 1.26 mg/kg in high spiked treatment. Sulfamethoxazole and amoxicillin were translocated to the leaves with concentrations, 6.04 +3.56 mg/kg and 1.73 + 0.63 mg/kg, respectively. Moreover, Soil can degrade pharmaceuticals by biotic and non-biotic process which decreased their accumulation in soil. Radish showed the ability to translocate some of the selected pharmaceuticals from soil irrigated with treated wastewater if they are present in suffi cient concentrations. Pharmaceuticals are of important effects on different environmen tal aspects. They can cause detrimental effects on non-target organisms. Consequently, pharmaceuticals usage and disposal must be given attention to prevent their reach to groundwater or occurrences in the environment. Furthermore treated wastewater must be given a big attention as it is an important water source in Oman which suffers from water shortage.
