Colloid-Mediated Transport of Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products through Porous Media

Pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) enter soils through reclaimed water irrigation and biosolid land applications. Colloids, such as clays, that are present in soil may interact with PPCPs and thus affect their fate and transport in the subsurface environment. This study addresses the influence of soil colloids on the sorption and transport behaviors of PPCPs through laboratory column experiments. Results show that the affinities of PPCPs for colloids vary with their molecular chemistry and solution ionic strength. The presence of colloids promotes the breakthrough of ciprofloxacin (over 90% sorbed on colloids) from ~4% to 30–40%, and the colloid-facilitated effect was larger at lower ionic strength (e.g., 2 mM). In comparison, the net effect of colloids on the transport of tetracycline (~50% sorbed on colloids) could be facilitation or inhibition, depending on solution chemistry. This dual effect of colloids is primarily due to the opposite response of migration of dissolved and colloid-bound tetracycline to the change in solution ionic strength. Colloids could also facilitate the transport of ibuprofen (~10% sorbed on colloids) by ~50% due likely to exclusion of dispersion pathways by colloid straining. This study suggests that colloids are significant carriers or transport promoters of some PPCPs in the subsurface environment and could affect their off-site environmental risks.