Ocean Sci. J. (2014) 49(3):231-240 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12601-014-0023-8 Available online at http://link.springer.com Cimetidine, Acetaminophen, and 1,7-dimethylxanthine, as Indicators of Wastewater Pollution in Marine Sediments from Masan Bay, Korea Minkyu Choi 1 *, Edward T. Furlong 2 , Stephen L. Werner 2 , Anthony S. Pait 3 , In-Seok Lee 1 , and Hee-Gu Choi 1 1 Marine Environment Research Division, NFRDI, Busan 619-705, Korea 2 National Water Quality Laboratory, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver Federal Center, P.O. Box 255857, Building 95, Denver, CO 80225-0046, USA 3 Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment, NOAA/NOS/NCCOS, 1305 East/West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 209010, USA Received 28 May 2014; Revised 3 July 2014; Accepted 31 July 2014  KSO, KIOST and Springer 2014 Abstract  Concerns have emerged regarding the presence of human-use pharmaceuticals in aquatic environments. We investigated the status of contamination by 29 human-use pharmaceuticals as well as wastewater indicator compounds, fecal sterols and the synthetic endocrine disruptor nonylphenol, in marine sediments from Masan Bay, one of the most contaminated bays in Korea as a result of untreated and/or treated sewage. Among the 29 pharmaceuticals determined, 10 including antacid, analgesic, antibiotic, and antipruritic compounds, and metabolites of caffeine and nicotine were detected in all sediment samples. Cimetidine, acetaminophen, and 1,7-dimethylxanthine were the most frequently detected pharmaceuticals (frequency > 50%), and at high concentrations. The highest concentrations and detection frequencies were at stations located close to wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) outfalls and at the river mouth. The spatial distributions of pharmaceutical were significantly correlated with those of wastewater compounds. These results indicate that occurrence of the pharmaceuticals in marine environments is likely associated with direct sewage inputs, such as WWTP effluents and with other sewage-influenced sources, such as river discharge. Key words  pharmaceutical, sewage, fecal sterols, wastewater treatment plant 1. Introduction The presence of pharmaceuticals in the environment and their possible effects on non-target organisms are of concern worldwide because they are biologically active by design and hence might affect certain species potentially leading to alterations of ecosystems (Fent et al. 2006; Christen et al. 2010). Furthermore, pharmaceuticals introduced into waters receiving effluent could adversely affect exposed aquatic flora and fauna (Ferrari et al. 2003, 2004; Brain et al. 2004; Henry et al. 2004). A primary pathway for human pharmaceuticals to enter aquatic ecosystems is via human consumption followed by excretion of un-metabolized pharmaceuticals (Gros et al. 2007). Only a fraction of pharmaceuticals ingested are metabolized and remaining compounds are excreted in domestic waste either as the parent form or a metabolite. These pharmaceuticals are introduced in sewage that enters wastewater treatment plants, is incompletely removed during treatment, and through discharge of effluent enters the environment. Because of the relationship between pharmaceutical concentrations in the environment and human waste, recent studies have reported the presence of selected pharmaceuticals in wastewater effluent (Glassmeyer et al. 2005; Brown et al. 2006; Sim et al. 2010) and river water (Kolpin et al. 2002, 2004; Ellis 2006; Schultz et al. 2010; Bunch and Bernot 2011). Few data exist regarding their presence in fresh sediments (Vazquez-Roig et al. 2011, 2012; Tomasek et al. 2012). Very little information on the occurrence and distribution of pharmaceuticals in marine environments is available to date (Long et al. 2013). In Korea, pharmaceuticals also are of concern, and pharmaceutical residues have recently been reported in various matrices such as drinking water, river water, wastewater treatment plant effluents, and soils (Kim et al. 2007a; Choi et al. 2008; Yoon et al. 2010; Sim et al. 2010, 2011; Ryu et al. 2011; Subedi et al. 2013, 2014). *Corresponding author. E-mail: mkchoi3@korea.kr Article