The occurrence and removal efficiencies of the pharmaceuticals lidocaine (LDC), tramadol (TRA) and venlafaxine (VEN), and their major active metabolites monoethylglycinexylidide (MEGX), O-desmethyltramadol (ODT) and O-desmethylvenlafaxine (ODV) were studied at four wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) equipped with activated sludge treatment technologies. In parallel to activated sludge treatment, the removal efficiency of the compounds in pilot- and full-scale projects installed at the WWTPs was investigated. Within these projects two different treatment methods were tested: adsorption onto powdered/granulated activated carbon (PAC/GAC) and ozonation. The metabolite MEGX was not detected in any sample. The concentrations of the target analytes in wastewater effluents resulting from activated sludge treatment ranged from 55 to 183 (LDC), 88 to 416 (TRA), 50 to 245 (ODT), 22 to 176 (VEN) and 77 to 520 ng L⁻¹ (ODV). In the pilot project with subsequent treatment with PAC/GAC, the mean concentrations of the analytes were between

On Late Cretaceous Tethyan upwelling sediments from the Mishash/Ghareb Formation (Negev, Israel), bulk geochemical and biomarker analyses were performed to explain the high proportion of phosphates in the lower part and of organic matter (OM) preserved in upper parts of the studied section. The profile is composed of three facies types; the underlying Phosphate Member (PM), the Oil Shale Member (OSM) and the overlying Marl Member (MM). Total organic carbon (TOC) contents are highly variable over the whole profile reaching from 0.6% in the MM, to 24.5% in the OSM. Total iron (TFe) varies from 0.1% in the PM to 3.3% in the OSM. Total sulfur (TS) ranges between 0.1% in the MM and 3.4% in the OSM, resulting in a high C/S ratio of 6.5 in the OSM section. A mean proportion of 11.5% total phosphorus (TP) in the PM changed abruptly with the facies to a mean value of only 0.9% in the OSM and the MM. The TOC/TOCOR ratios argue for a high bacterial sulfate reduction activity and in addition, results from fatty acid analyses indicate that the activity of sulfide-oxidizing activity of bacteria was high during deposition of the PM, while decreasing during the deposition of the OSM. The upwelling conditions effected a high primary productivity and consequently the presence of abundant OM. This, in combination with high sulfate availability in the sediments of the PM resulted in a higher sulfide production due to the activity of sulfate-reducing bacteria. Iron availability was a limiting factor during the deposition of the whole section, affecting the incorporation of S into OM. This resulted in the preservation of a substantial part of OM against microbial degradation due to naturally-occurring sulfurization processes expressed by the high C/S ratio of 6.5 in the OSM. Further, the abundant sulfide in the pore water supported the growth of sulfide-oxidizing bacteria promoting the deposition of P, which amounted to as much as 15% in the PM. These conditions changed drastically from the PM to the OSM, resulting in a significant reduction of the apatite precipitation and a high concentration of reactive S species reacting with the OM.