Pharmaceutically active compounds have increasingly been detected in groundwater worldwide. Despite constituting a risk for human health and ecosystems, their fate in the environment has still not been exhaustively investigated. This study characterizes the transport behavior of five selected pharmaceutically active compounds (antipyrine, atenolol, caffeine, carbamazepine and sulfamethoxazole) in two sediments (coarse quartz sand and sandy loam) using column experiments with long-term injection of spiked groundwater. Transport parameters were estimated using an analytical reactive transport model. When five selected compounds were injected simultaneously, transport behavior of antipyrine, carbamazepine and the antibiotic sulfamethoxazole were similar to the conservative tracer in both sediments and under varying redox conditions. Atenolol and caffeine were retarded significantly stronger in the sandy loam sediment than in the coarse quartz sand. Biodegradation of caffeine was observed in both sediments after an adaption period and depended on dissolved oxygen. The identification of biodegradation processes was supported by monitoring of intracellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP_itc) as a measure for microbial activity. ATP_itc was present in varying concentrations in all sediments and was highest when biodegradation of pharmaceuticals, especially caffeine, was observed. When only caffeine and sulfamethoxazole were injected simultaneously, sulfamethoxazole was degraded while caffeine degradation was reduced. The latter seemed to be influenced by low concentrations in dissolved oxygen rather than the presence of the antibiotic sulfamethoxazole. Results of these experiments emphasize the impact on pharmaceutical sorption and (bio)degradation of sediment type and redox conditions, as well as available time for microbial adaption and the combination of pharmaceuticals that are released together into groundwater.

在全世界的地下水中越来越多地发现了药物活性化合物。尽管构成了人类健康和生态系统的风险，但它们在环境中的命运尚未得到详尽的调查。这项研究使用长期注入尖峰地下水的色谱柱实验表征了两种选定沉积物中（粗石英砂和砂壤土）中五种选定的药物活性化合物（安替比林，阿替洛尔，咖啡因，卡马西平和磺胺甲恶唑）的传输行为。使用分析性反应性运输模型估算运输参数。当同时注射五种选定的化合物时，在沉积物中和在不同的氧化还原条件下，安替比林，卡马西平和抗生素磺胺甲恶唑的运输行为与保守示踪剂相似。阿替洛尔和咖啡因在沙质壤土沉积物中的抑制作用明显强于粗石英砂。适应期后，在两种沉积物中均观察到咖啡因的生物降解，并取决于溶解氧。监测细胞内三磷酸腺苷（ATP）支持生物降解过程的鉴定_itc）作为微生物活性的量度。ATP _itc以不同浓度存在于所有沉积物中，当观察到药物（尤其是咖啡因）的生物降解时，ATP _itc最高。当仅同时注射咖啡因和磺胺甲恶唑时，磺胺甲恶唑降解而咖啡因降解降低。后者似乎受溶解氧浓度低的影响，而不是受抗生素磺胺甲恶唑的影响。这些实验的结果强调了沉积物类型和氧化还原条件对药物吸附和（生物）降解的影响，以及微生物适应性和释放到地下水中的药物组合的可用时间。