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Investigation of antibiotics in health care wastewater in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

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Hospital wastewater contains huge amounts of hazardous pollutants which are being discharged daily to environment with or without treatment. Antibiotics were among the important group of pharmaceuticals considered as a potential source of health risk for human and other living creatures. Although the investigations about the existence of antibiotics in hospital wastewater have gained concern for researchers in many countries, there is only one research conducted in Hanoi-Vietnam. Hence, in this study, investigations have been done to fulfill the requirement of real situation in Vietnam by accomplishing survey for 39 health care facilities in Ho Chi Minh City. As results, seven popular antibiotics were detected to exist in all samples such as sulfamethoxazole (2.5 ± 1.9 μg/L), norfloxacin (9.6 ± 9.8 μg/L), ciprofloxacin (5.3 ± 4.8 μg/L), ofloxacin (10.9 ± 8.1 μg/L), erythromycin (1.2 ± 1.2 μg/L), tetracycline (0.1 ± 0.0 μg/L), and trimethoprim (1.0 ± 0.9 μg/L). On the other hand, survey also showed that only 64% of health care facilities using conventional activate sludge (AS) processes in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). As a consequence, basic environmental factors (BOD5, COD, TSS, NH4 +-N, or total coliforms) were not effectively removed from the hospital wastewater due to problems relating to initial design or operational conditions. Therefore, 18% effluent samples of the surveyed WWTPs have exceeded the national standard limits (QCVN 28:2010, level B).

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank for the research grant from National Foundation for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED) No. 105.99-2015.16, Ministry of Science and Technology – Vietnam. This study has been conducted under the framework of CARE-RESCIF initiative. In addition, the laboratory support of Mr. Tin and Mr. Thao are highly appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Engineering and Management Research Group, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

    Thi-Dieu-Hien Vo & Thanh-Son Nguyen

  2. Faculty of Environment and Labour Safety, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

    Thi-Dieu-Hien Vo

  3. Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Technology, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

    Xuan-Thanh Bui, Ngoc-Dan-Thanh Cao, Vinh-Phuc Luu, Quoc-Tuc Dinh & Thanh-Son Dao

  4. Faculty of Food and Environment, Dong Nai Technology University, Dong Nai, Vietnam

    Xuan-Thanh Bui

  5. Institute of Research and Development, Duy Tan University, Da Nang, Vietnam

    Ngoc-Dan-Thanh Cao, Vinh-Phuc Luu, Thanh-Tin Nguyen, Bao-Trong Dang, Minh-Quan Thai & Dinh-Duc Nguyen

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  1. Thi-Dieu-Hien Vo
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Correspondence to Xuan-Thanh Bui.

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Vo, TDH., Bui, XT., Cao, NDT. et al. Investigation of antibiotics in health care wastewater in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Environ Monit Assess 188, 686 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-016-5704-6

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