Paper Title
Assessment of Physical, Chemical, and Radionuclide Concentrations in Pharmaceutical Industrial Wastewater Effluents in Amman, Jordan

Abstract
This study was conducted to assess the physical, chemical, and radionuclide concentrations of pharmaceutical industrial wastewater effluents. Fourteen wastewater samples were collected from pharmaceutical industries. Samples were analyzed for physical, chemical, biological content using Inductive Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer. Gross α/β activity concentrations in water samples were evaluated by Liquid Scintillation Counting whereas the concentration of individual radionuclides was measured by gamma spectroscopy. The results showed a marked reduction in the levels of TH, Mg, and Ca concentration in wastewater limit for properties and criteria for discharge of wastewater to streams or wadies or water bodies in the effluent, whereas TSS and TDS showed higher concentration allowable for discharge of wastewater to streams or wadies or water bodies. The gross α activity in all the wastewater samples ranged between (0.086-0.234 Bq/L) lowered the 0.1 Bq/L limit set by World Health Organization (WHO), whereas gross β activity in few samples ranged between (2.565-4.800 Bq/L), indicating the higher limit set by WHO. Gamma spectroscopy revealed that K-40, Cr-51, Co-60, I-131, Cs-137, and U-238 activity are ≤0.114 Bq/L, ≤0.062 Bq/L, ≤0.00815Bq/L, ≤0.00792Bq/L, ≤0.00956 Bq/L, and ≤0.151 Bq/L, respectively, indicating lowest concentrations of these radionuclides in the pharmaceutical industrial wastewater effluents. Keywords - Pharmaceutical Wastewater, Gross α/β activity, Radionuclides, Jordan.