Corrigendum to “Occurrence and fate of pharmaceuticals in WWTPs in India and comparison with a similar study in the United States” [Chemosphere 159 526–535](S0045653516308050)(10.1016/j.chemosphere.2016.06.047)

The authors regret that the published version of the above article contained some unintended errors. While reviewing the related work, we found calculation errors for Indian wastewater and peak integration and analysis errors due to the matrix interference for Indian wastewater. After thoroughly re-examining the data and reanalysing all the samples, which took some time due to the instrument (LC-QTof) issues and COVID, we are confident about the revised values presented in the four revised Figures (Figure numbers 2–5 in the original paper). The correct figures and revised text are provided hereunder. The US wastewater data and corresponding text are unaffected as the first author was not involved in the analysis of those samples, and those were analysed on a different instrument. In Indian WWTPs, the yearly average total influent concentrations of pharmaceuticals were found to be 71.2 ± 13 μg/L at WWTP-1 and 46.5 ± 4 μg/L at WWTP-2. During the winter season, the total influent concentrations of the selected pharmaceuticals for WWTP-1 and 2 were found to be 106.9 ± 11.9 and 87.3 ± 11.8 μg/L, respectively (Fig. 2). In both the treatment plants, caffeine (CAFF), azithromycin (AZITR), and acetaminophen (ACETA) were the major contributors (Fig. 3). During the summer season, the total influent concentration of pharmaceuticals in WWTP-1 (34.7 ± 5 μg/L) was slightly higher than that in WWTP-2 (29.7 ± 2 μg/L). In the monsoon season, the concentration of total pharmaceuticals measured at the WWTP-1 and 2 were 72.1 ± 37 and 22.5 ± 5 μg/L, respectively (Fig. 2). In WWTP-1, antibiotics (AZITR and norfloxacin (NORF)) and ACETA were the major contributors. The concentration of the world's most widely consumed psychoactive drug, CAFF, was found to remain high during winter and summer seasons at both the WWTPs (Fig. 3). Among fluoroquinolones, high concentrations of NORF and levofloxacin (LEVO) were detected in monsoon season at WWTP-1 (Fig. 3). Sulfamethoxazole (SULFA) was detected at WWTP-1 and WWTP-2 with a maximum concentration of 8.6 ± 2.7 and 10.7 ± 0.4 μg/L, respectively (Table S9–S10). The yearly average total effluent concentrations of pharmaceuticals from WWTP-1 and 2 were 9.6 ± 1 μg/L and 8.5 ± 2 μg/L, respectively (Fig. 2).[Formula presented] Fig. 2. Seasonal variation in total concentrations of monitored pharmaceuticals in the influents of two Indian WWTPs.[Formula presented] Fig. 3. Seasonal variation in concentrations of pharmaceuticals in the influents of two Indian WWTPs: Winter (a) ACETA, CAFF, CARBA, and RANT, (b) ATEN, METO, and ATORV, (c) NORF, LEVO, and AZITHR; summer (d) ACETA, CAFF, CARBA, and RANT, (e) ATEN, METO, and ATORV, (f)) NORF, LEVO, and AZITHR; and monsoon (g) ACETA, CAFF, CARBA, and RANT, (h) ATEN, METO, and ATORV, (i) NORF, LEVO, and AZITHR.[Formula presented] Fig. 4. Seasonal variation in percentage removal of total concentrations of monitored pharmaceuticals at the two Indian WWTPs.[Formula presented] Fig. 5. Seasonal variation in percentage removal of pharmaceuticals at the two Indian WWTPs: Winter (a) ACETA, CAFF, and RANT, (b) ATEN, METO, and ATORV (c) NORF, LEVO, AZITHR and SULFA; summer (d) ACETA, CAFF, and RANT, (e) ATEN, METO, and ATORV, (f) NORF, LEVO, AZITHR and SULFA; and monsoon (g) ACETA, CAFF, and RANT, (h) ATEN, METO, and ATORV, (i) NORF, LEVO, AZITHR and SULFA. The % removal in the total concentration of pharmaceuticals and individual pharmaceuticals are shown in Fig. 4 and 5, respectively. A significant difference in the average yearly removal of CAFF was observed for both WWTPs. For ranitidine, nearly 100% removal was seen in WWTP-1 and 2 during the winter and summer season (Fig. 5). Of the β-blockers, the average yearly removal for atenolol (ATN) and metoprolol (METOP) in WWTP-1 was 65 and 73%, respectively. The removal for ATN and METOP in WWTP-2 was 80 and 56%, respectively. The highest removal for ATN was seen at WWTP-2 during the winter and summer seasons, but for METP, the highest removal at WWTP-1 and 2 was seen during the winter season. For azithromycin, consistently high removal was seen at WWTP-1 across all three seasons, and this could be due to greater sorption to the sludge (Radjenovic et al., 2007) due to its high K_ow value. For SULFA, the highest removal was seen during the monsoon season at the two WWTPs. The removal in two WWTPs for fluoroquinolones was found to vary from 40 to 100%. [Table presented] [Table presented] With this erratum, we hope to ensure the correctness of the published data.