Despite the fact that there are tens of thousands of thermal baths in existence, knowledge about the occurrence of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) in untreated thermal wastewater is very limited. Because used thermal water is typically legally discharged into surface waters without any treatment, the effluent poses environmental risks for the receiving water bodies. The aim of this study was to show the occurrence patterns and spatiotemporal characteristics of 111 PhACs in thermal wastewater. Six thermal water outflows of different thermal baths were tested in different seasons in the Budapest metropolitan region (Hungary), and diurnal analysis was performed. After solid-phase extraction, the samples were analysed and quantified by coupling supercritical fluid chromatography and mass spectrometry to perform simultaneous multi-residue drug analysis. The results confirm that water discharge pipes directly transport pharmaceuticals into surface water bodies; 34 PhACs were measured to be over the limit of quantification at least once, and 21 of them were found in more than one water sample. The local anaesthetic drug lidocaine, antiepileptic carbamazepine, analgesic derivative tramadol and illicit drug cocaine were detected in more than half of the samples. Caffeine, metoprolol and bisoprolol (cardiovascular drugs), benzoylecgonine (cocaine metabolite), diclofenac (NSAID), citalopram (antidepressant) and certain types of hormones also have a significant frequency of 30-50%. However, the occurrence and concentrations of PhACs vary according to the season and number/types of visitors. As demonstrated by the diurnal fluctuation, drug contamination of thermal waters can significantly vary, even for similar types of baths; furthermore, the quantity and types of some pollutants rapidly change in the discharged thermal wastewater.

In agricultural areas, daily and seasonal temperature fluctuations can swiftly alter the mobility of pharmaceuticals in the topsoils. Therefore, developing a method that can accurately estimate the fate and transport of terrestrial contaminants like organic micropollutants is crucial. Fixed-bed systems provide a non-traditional understanding of thermodynamic calculations and better reflect the natural conditions of the soil environment than the batch method hitherto used. To demonstrate this, the sorption behaviour of three pharmaceuticals was investigated in fixed-bed and batch experiments at five pre-measured topsoil temperatures and analysed chemometrically. The fixed-bed method accurately predicts the directly relevant chemical behaviour of pharmaceuticals in the cultivated soil layer, outperforming batch methods in correlating sorption and thermodynamics data. Opposite trends were found between the standard Gibbs' free energy (ΔG⁰), and maximum saturated amount, and this ΔG⁰ and total desorption in the fixed-bed experiment, while with batch, no significant relationship appeared. Thermodynamic results in the fixed-bed simulation indicate that 17α-ethynylestradiol and lidocaine-hydrochloride have negative entropy values owing to their physicochemical properties and competitive relationship, indicating a more specific surface reaction than diclofenac-sodium. The physical nature of sorption was observed in all cases, resulting in rapid and reversible adsorption processes. The application of fixed-bed systems instead of batch experiments provides new insights into soil-pharmaceutical interactions, demonstrating that fixed-bed systems more accurately model sorption processes. This study is the first to examine the thermodynamic aspects of pharmaceutical sorption in a fixed-bed soil system, and the findings highlight the method's potential for improving future environmental risk assessments and guiding the development of more accurate contaminant transport models in soils.

The present dataset provides data on the pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) concentrations measured in the Danube and the drinking water abstraction wells (DWAW) in the Budapest region. Grab samples were collected during five periods. One hundred and seven water samples from the Danube and ninety water samples from the relevant DWAWs were analyzed to quantify physical-chemical parameters, trace element concentrations, and one hundred and eleven PhACs, including pharmaceutical derivatives, illicit drugs, and alkaloids. The ion concentrations were measured using dual channel ion chromatography, spectrophotometric and titrimetric methods, and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. PhACs concentrations were measured after solid-phase extraction applying supercritical fluid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. Fifty-two PhACs were quantified in the Danube, and ten PhACs were present in >80% of the samples. Whereas thirty-two PhACs were quantified in the DWAWs. The present dataset is useful for further comparisons and meta-analyses.

Human activities release Pharmaceutically Active Compounds (PhACs) onto arable land, where they can accumulate and disrupt the ecological balance. The soil's microbial community continuously alters the composition of organic matter, as it serves as their primary nutrient source. The quality and quantity of organic matter may vary even within a single vegetation period. Observing the extent of transformation in the different phases is essential, as organic matter is primarily responsible for the soil's ability to retain micropollutants. An incubated sorption experiment was conducted simulating a vegetation period using Mollisol, to examine this question. Enzyme activity results indicate that the microbial community transforms soil organic matter, reducing its quantity and thus its ability to retain PhACs. At the beginning of the incubation period, among the physico-chemical properties of PhACs, the H-donor/acceptor counts and the size of their van der Waals surface area were the determining factors in the sorption processes. At the end of the incubation period, owing to the reduction in organic matter and the transformation of functional groups, the adsorbed PhACs decreased significantly, while desorption increased because the electrostatic interaction began to dominate the sorption processes. Consequently, the mobility rate of the PhACs with hydrophobic properties may increase in the arable land by the end of the vegetation period. The primary properties of PhACs identified should be considered when assessing soil persistence. It's vital to account for the temporal evolution of soil conditions and avoid relying on a single observation, as this only partially represents the soil's actual state.