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. 2015 Mar 23;5:9380. doi: 10.1038/srep09380

Table 3. Mean +/− standard deviation of personal care product concentrations before and after EC treatment of raw and tertiary-treated wastewater with the benchtop unit (n = 4, unless otherwise noted). Any undetected analytes are listed as less than the reported process limit of detection (<pLOD). When a two-tailed student's t-test (t) or Wilcoxon Rank Sum test (S) revealed a positive, significant difference (α = 0.05) between pre- and post- EC treatment concentrations, the mean percent reduction was calculated. Results that exceeded the calibration range but did not saturate the instrument detector are indicated with an E. Results that were likely underestimations (laboratory control sample spike below the control limit) are indicated with*.

  Raw wastewater Tertiary-treated wastewater
  Mean concentration +/− standard deviation (ng/L)     Mean concentration +/− standard deviation (ng/L)    
Analyte Pre-EC treatment Post-EC treatmet Test statistic and p-value % Mean reduction Pre-EC treatment Post-EC treatment Test statistic and p-value % Mean reduction
Acetaminophen 55750 +/− 28000E 28000 +/− 4243E S = 26.00, p = 0.0286 49.78 <pLOD <pLOD N/A N/A
Caffeine 31250 +/− 3202E 26250 +/− 4787E S = 23.00, p = 0.1714 N/A <pLOD 72 +/− 3 N/A N/A
Carbamazepine 130 +/− 16 125 +/− 6 S = 20.00, p = 0.6564 N/A 165 +/− 6 178 +/− 10 N/A N/A
DEET 4075 +/− 263 3400 +/− 424E t = 2.70, p = 0.0354 16.56 29 +/− 1 68 +/− 12 N/A N/A
Gemfibrozil 2700 +/− 13 2350 +/− 82E t = 4.58, p = 0.0038 12.96 <pLOD <pLOD N/A N/A
Ibuprofen 12000 +/− 817E 9950 +/− 900E t = 3.37, p = 0.0150 17.08 <pLOD <pLOD N/A N/A
Iopromide 4600 +/− 653* 3325 +/− 619*, E S = 26.00, p = 0.0286 24.77 505 +/− 31 350 +/− 26 t = 7.67, p = 0.0003 31.00
Meprobamate 655 +/− 48 660 +/− 82E t = 0.11, p = 0.9193 N/A 588 +/− 24E 645 +/− 44E N/A N/A
Naproxen 11250 +/− 500E 11250 +/− 500E S = 18.00, p = 1.0000 N/A <pLOD <pLOD N/A N/A
Phenytoin <pLOD 130 +/− 0 (n = 2) N/A N/A 183 +/− 15 208 +/−15 N/A N/A
Primidone <pLOD <pLOD N/A N/A <pLOD* <pLOD* N/A N/A
Salicylic Acid 32500 +/− 5568 9425 +/− 961E S = 26.00, p = 0.0286 71.00 61 (n = 1) 78 +/−15 N/A N/A
Sulfamethoxazole 1925 +/− 310 1700 +/− 548E t = 0.72, p = 0.5013 N/A 24 +/− 5 < RL S = 26.00, p = 0.0286 58.76
Thiabendazole <pLOD 15 +/− 1 N/A N/A 20 +/− 1 18 +/− 1 t = 3.00, p = 0.0240 10.00
Triclocarban 728 +/−200 113 +/− 75 t = 5.77, p = 0.0012 84.54 <pLOD <pLOD N/A N/A
Triclosan 1350 +/−238 248 +/− 89 t = 8.68, p = 0.0001 81.67 <pLOD <pLOD N/A N/A
Trimethoprim 488 +/− 54 508 +/− 48E t = 0.56, p = 0.5986 N/A <pLOD <pLOD N/A N/A
Warfarin <pLOD <pLOD N/A N/A <pLOD <pLOD N/A N/A