Reflection of Socioeconomic Changes in Wastewater: Licit and Illicit Drug Use Patterns

Characterization of wastewater effluents in the Danube River Basin with chemical screening, in vitro bioassays and antibiotic resistant genes analysis

Averaged 7-day composite effluent wastewater samples from twelve wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in nine countries (Romania, Serbia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Slovakia, Czechia, Austria, Germany) in the Danube River Basin were collected. WWTPs' selection was based on countries' dominant technology and a number of served population with the aim to get a representative holistic view of the pollution status. Samples were analyzed for 2248 chemicals of emerging concern (CECs) by wide-scope target screening employing LC-ESI-QTOF-MS. 280 compounds were detected at least in one sample and quantified. Spatial differences in the concentrations and distribution of the compounds classes were discussed. Additionally, samples were analyzed for the possible agonistic/antagonistic potencies using a panel of in vitro transactivation reporter gene CALUX® bioassays including ERα (estrogenics), anti-AR (anti-androgens), GR (glucocorticoids), anti-PR (anti-progestins), PPARα and PPARγ (peroxisome proliferators) and PAH assays. The potency of the wastewater samples to cause oxidative stress and induce xenobiotic metabolism was determined using the Nrf2 and PXR CALUX® bioassays, respectively. The signals from each of the bioassays were compared with the recently developed effect-based trigger values (EBTs) and thus allowed for allocating the wastewater effluents into four categories based on their measured toxicity, proposing a putative action plan for wastewater operators. Moreover, samples were analyzed for antibiotics and 13 antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs) and one mobile genetic element (intl1) with the aim to assess the potential for antibiotic resistance. All data collected from these various types of analysis were stored in an on-line database and can be viewed via interactive map at https://norman-data.eu/EWW_DANUBE.

Psychiatrics and selected metabolites in hospital and urban wastewaters: Occurrence, removal, mass loading, seasonal influence and risk assessment

The occurrence, removal, mass loading, seasonal influence and environmental risk assessment of nine psychiatric pharmaceuticals and four of their selected metabolites, were studied in one hospital and one urban wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Ioannina city, in northwestern Greece, providing information about the efficiency of the plants and their contribution into the final receiver's flow. Samples were collected from the influents and the effluents of the plants in different sampling campaigns, from July to December 2016. Analytical methodology was based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-Orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry, after solid-phase extraction through Oasis HLB cartridges. Concentrations in both WWTPs ranged between <LOQ and 1126.3 ng/L in the influents and between <LOQ and 1127.4 ng/L, in the effluents. Results indicated that venlafaxine and its metabolite O-desmethyl venlafaxine were the most frequently detected compounds in the influents and the effluents of both WWTPs. Metabolite to parent compound ratio ranged in the influents between 0.01 and 87.2 while in the effluents between 0.01 and 47.7. Based on mass loads in the influents, venlafaxine is consumed in high amounts (up to 67.1 mg/day/1000 inhab.), and consequently its metabolite O-desmethyl venlafaxine (up to 139.1 mg/day/1000 inhab.). Similarly to the influents, environmental emissions, were also higher for venlafaxine and O-desmethyl venlafaxine (10.1 and 13.3 mg/d/1000 inhab., respectively). Removal efficiencies in the hospital WWTP ranged from -100% to 98.9%, while in the city WWTP from -49.9% to 99.8%. Furthermore, an important outcome was the evaluation of the potential ecotoxicological risk, by means of risk quotients (RQs), where none of the target psychiatrics or their metabolites showed RQ above 1.

Wastewater-based monitoring of illicit drug consumption in Istanbul: Preliminary results from two districts

Wastewater-based epidemiology is a well-established and complementary approach for monitoring illicit drug use in the general population. In this study, amphetamine (AMP), methamphetamine (METH), 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), cocaine (COC) (from benzoylecgonine), and cannabis (from THC-COOH) consumption levels were investigated for the first time in Turkey (Istanbul). A solid-phase extraction method was applied to influent wastewater samples collected from two districts, Beyoglu and Catalca. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis was conducted with electrospray ionization in positive mode. Calibration curves were acquired in linear form with >0.999 correlation coefficients. Limit of detection levels were measured as 0.91-151 ng/L, and limit of quantitation levels were in the range of 3 to 500 ng/L. Solid-phase extraction recovery and repeatability experiments were achieved by spiking the mix solution to different concentrations (50, 250, 750 ng/L) in 50 mL tap water and wastewater (500, 1000 ng/L) samples in six replicates. The method was optimized, and recoveries were found to be over 80% for all six substances with up to 11.9% relative standard deviation. According to the real sample results, cannabis was found to be the most abused illicit substance among the analytes. The mean consumptions of the two districts, including seven consecutive days for AMP, METH, MDMA, COC, and cannabis, were found to be 27.2, 322, 331, 385, and 1224 mg/day/1000 inhabitants, respectively. In this presented study, all targeted compounds were analyzed simultaneously with the same analytical conditions. To the best of our knowledge, this report is the first to present illicit drug consumption data from Istanbul.

Monitoring wastewater for assessing community health: Sewage Chemical-Information Mining (SCIM)

Timely assessment of the aggregate health of small-area human populations is essential for guiding the optimal investment of resources needed for preventing, avoiding, controlling, or mitigating human exposure risks, as well as for maintaining or promoting health. Seeking those interventions yielding the greatest benefit with respect to the allocation of resources is critical for making progress toward community sustainability, reducing health disparities, promoting social justice, and maintaining or improving collective health and well-being. More informative, faster, and less-costly approaches are needed for guiding investigation of cause-effect linkages involving communities and stressors originating from both the built and natural environments. One such emerging approach involves the continuous monitoring of sewage for chemicals that serve as indicators of the collective status of human health (or stress/disease) or any other facet relevant to gauging time-trends in community-wide health. This nascent approach can be referred to as Sewage Chemical-Information Mining (SCIM) and involves the monitoring of sewage for the information that resides in the form of natural and anthropogenic chemicals that enter sewers as a result of the everyday actions, activities, and behaviors of humans. Of particular interest is a specific embodiment of SCIM that would entail the targeted monitoring of a broad suite of endogenous biomarkers of key physiologic processes (as opposed to xenobiotics or their metabolites). This application is termed BioSCIM-an approach roughly analogous to a hypothetical community-wide collective clinical urinalysis, or to a hypothetical en masse human biomonitoring program. BioSCIM would be used for gauging the status or time-trends in community-wide health on a continuous basis. This paper presents an update on the progress made with the development of the BioSCIM concept in the period of time since its original publication in 2012, as well as the next steps required for its continued development.

Wastewater Analysis for Community-Wide Drugs Use Assessment

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) complements existing epidemiology-based estimation techniques and provides objective, evidence-based estimates of illicit drug use. After consumption, biomarkers - drugs and their metabolites - excreted to toilets and flushed into urban sewer networks can be measured in raw wastewater samples. The quantified loads can serve as an estimate for the collective consumption of all people contributing to the wastewater sample. This transdisciplinary approach, further explained in this chapter, has developed, matured and is now established for monitoring substances such as cocaine and amphetamine-type stimulants. Research currently underway is refining WBE to new applications including new psychoactive substances (NPS).

Measuring biomarkers in wastewater as a new source of epidemiological information: Current state and future perspectives

The information obtained from the chemical analysis of specific human excretion products (biomarkers) in urban wastewater can be used to estimate the exposure or consumption of the population under investigation to a defined substance. A proper biomarker can provide relevant information about lifestyle habits, health and wellbeing, but its selection is not an easy task as it should fulfil several specific requirements in order to be successfully employed. This paper aims to summarize the current knowledge related to the most relevant biomarkers used so far. In addition, some potential wastewater biomarkers that could be used for future applications were evaluated. For this purpose, representative chemical classes have been chosen and grouped in four main categories: (i) those that provide estimates of lifestyle factors and substance use, (ii) those used to estimate the exposure to toxicants present in the environment and food, (iii) those that have the potential to provide information about public health and illness and (iv) those used to estimate the population size. To facilitate the evaluation of the eligibility of a compound as a biomarker, information, when available, on stability in urine and wastewater and pharmacokinetic data (i.e. metabolism and urinary excretion profile) has been reviewed. Finally, several needs and recommendations for future research are proposed.