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Zhao Z, Zheng Q, Tscharke BJ, Ahmed F, O'Brien JW, Gao J, Covaci A, Thai PK. Refining the correction factor for a better monitoring of antidepressant use by wastewater-based epidemiology: A case study of amitriptyline. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 926:172057. [PMID: 38552972 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2024] [Revised: 03/03/2024] [Accepted: 03/26/2024] [Indexed: 04/05/2024]
Abstract
Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is proposed as a cost-effective approach to objectively monitor the antidepressant use but it requires more accurate correction factors (CF) than what had been used in previous studies. Amitriptyline is a popular prescription medicine for treating depression and nerve pain, which could be prone to misuse and need monitoring. The CF of amitriptyline employed in previous WBE studies varied from 10 to 100, leading to substantial disparities between WBE estimates and expected mass of antidepressants in wastewater. Hence, this study aimed to take amitriptyline as a case study and refine the CF by correlating mass loads measured in wastewater from 12.2 million inhabitants collected during the 2016 Census with corresponding annual sales data. The triangulation of WBE data and sales data resulted in a newly-derived CF of 7, which is significantly different from the CF values used in previous studies. The newly derived CF was applied to a secondary, multi-year (2017 to 2020) WBE dataset for validation against sales data in the same period, demonstrating the estimated amitriptyline use (380 ± 320 mg/day/1000 inhabitants) is consistent with sales data (450 ± 190 mg/day/1000 inhabitants). When we applied the new CF to previous studies, the wastewater consumption loads matched better to prescription data than previous WBE estimations. The refined CF of amitriptyline can be used in future WBE studies to improve the accuracy of the consumption estimates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zeyang Zhao
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4102, Australia
| | - Qiuda Zheng
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4102, Australia.
| | - Benjamin J Tscharke
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4102, Australia
| | - Fahad Ahmed
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4102, Australia
| | - Jake W O'Brien
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4102, Australia
| | - Jianfa Gao
- College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Shenzhen University, 1066 Xueyuan Avenue, Shenzhen 518060, China
| | - Adrian Covaci
- Toxicological Centre, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium
| | - Phong K Thai
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4102, Australia
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2
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Vogel E, Neyra M, Larsen DA, Zeng T. Target and Nontarget Screening to Support Capacity Scaling for Substance Use Assessment through a Statewide Wastewater Surveillance Network in New York. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2024; 58:8518-8530. [PMID: 38693060 PMCID: PMC11097395 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.4c01251] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2024] [Revised: 04/09/2024] [Accepted: 04/16/2024] [Indexed: 05/03/2024]
Abstract
Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has been widely implemented around the world as a complementary tool to conventional surveillance techniques to inform and improve public health responses. Currently, wastewater surveillance programs in the U.S. are evaluating integrated approaches to address public health challenges across multiple domains, including substance abuse. In this work, we demonstrated the potential of online solid-phase extraction coupled with liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry to support targeted quantification and nontargeted analysis of psychoactive and lifestyle substances as a step toward understanding the operational feasibility of a statewide wastewater surveillance program for substance use assessment in New York. Target screening confirmed 39 substances in influent samples collected from 10 wastewater treatment plants with varying sewershed characteristics and is anticipated to meet the throughput demands as the statewide program scales up to full capacity. Nontarget screening prioritized additional compounds for identification at three confidence levels, including psychoactive substances, such as opioid analgesics, phenethylamines, and cathinone derivatives. Consumption rates of 12 target substances detected in over 80% of wastewater samples were similar to those reported by previous U.S.-based WBE studies despite the uncertainty associated with back-calculations. For selected substances, the relative bias in consumption estimates was sensitive to variations in monitoring frequency, and factors beyond human excretion (e.g., as indicated by the parent-to-metabolite ratios) might also contribute to their prevalence at the sewershed scale. Overall, our study marks the initial phase of refining analytical workflows and data interpretation in preparation for the incorporation of substance use assessment into the statewide wastewater surveillance program in New York.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily
J. Vogel
- Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Syracuse University, 151 Link Hall, Syracuse, New York 13244, United States
| | - Milagros Neyra
- Department
of Public Health, Syracuse University, 444 White Hall, Syracuse, New York 13244, United States
| | - David A. Larsen
- Department
of Public Health, Syracuse University, 444 White Hall, Syracuse, New York 13244, United States
| | - Teng Zeng
- Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Syracuse University, 151 Link Hall, Syracuse, New York 13244, United States
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3
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Ceolotto N, Dollamore P, Hold A, Balne B, Jagadeesan KK, Standerwick R, Robertson M, Barden R, Kasprzyk-Hordern B. A new Wastewater-Based Epidemiology workflow to estimate community wide non-communicable disease prevalence using pharmaceutical proxy data. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 2024; 461:132645. [PMID: 37793253 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.132645] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2023] [Revised: 08/21/2023] [Accepted: 09/25/2023] [Indexed: 10/06/2023]
Abstract
This manuscript introduces a new wastewater-based epidemiology workflow for estimation of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) prevalence by using wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) and pharmaceuticals/their metabolites as proxies for NCDs prevalence. 83 targets were selected (54 parent pharmaceuticals and 29 metabolites). Three critical aspects were tested: (i) Solid-Phase Extraction - Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography and Tandem Mass Spectrometry (SPE-UHPLC-MS/MS) method performance, (ii) biomarker stability under variable storage conditions (during sampling and long-term storage) and (iii) accounting for human metabolism in WBE back-calculations. High stability of most analytes was observed under tested storage conditions. A few exceptions include diazepam, dihydroketoprofen and 5-hydroxy-lansoprazole. Analyte recoveries varied between 75% and 125% for most analytes. MDLs ranged from 0.2 ng L-1 to 5.6 ng L-1, while MQLs from 0.2 ng L-1 to 16.8 ng L-1. The overall average method accuracy and precision were: 99.5% and 4.0% respectively. A fully validated method was tested using community wastewater in the Southwest of England to estimate pharmaceutical usage, test metabolism correction factors established and compare results with prescription data. The new WBE method for NCD approximation allowed for the estimation of the daily usage/intake of 69 NCD targets with a standardized approach and a consistent reporting format.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicola Ceolotto
- Department of Chemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK; Centre for Doctoral Training in Sustainable Chemical Technologies, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK; Institute for Sustainability, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK
| | | | - Angus Hold
- Department of Chemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK
| | - Bethany Balne
- Department of Chemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK
| | | | - Richard Standerwick
- Wessex Water Service Ltd., Claverton Down, BA2 7WW, Bath, UK; Environment Agency, Bristol, UK
| | - Megan Robertson
- Wessex Water Service Ltd., Claverton Down, BA2 7WW, Bath, UK
| | - Ruth Barden
- Wessex Water Service Ltd., Claverton Down, BA2 7WW, Bath, UK
| | - Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern
- Department of Chemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK; Centre for Doctoral Training in Sustainable Chemical Technologies, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK; Institute for Sustainability, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK; Water and Innovation Research Centre, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK.
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4
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Boogaerts T, Quireyns M, De Loof H, Bertels X, Van Wichelen N, Pussig B, Saevels J, Lahousse L, Bonmariage P, Hamelinck W, Aertgeerts B, Covaci A, van Nuijs ALN. Do the lockdown-imposed changes in a wastewater treatment plant catchment's socio-demographics impact longitudinal temporal trends in psychoactive pharmaceutical use? THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 876:162342. [PMID: 36842581 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162342] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2022] [Revised: 01/30/2023] [Accepted: 02/15/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) includes the analysis of human metabolic biomarkers of xenobiotics in influent wastewater. WBE complements existing drug utilization approaches and provides objective, spatio-temporal information on the consumption of pharmaceuticals in the general population. This approach was applied to 24-h composite influent wastewater samples from Leuven, Belgium. Daily samples were analysed from September 2019 to December 2019 (n = 76), and on three days of the week (Monday, Wednesday, Saturday) from January 2020 to April 2022 (n = 367). Sample analysis consisted of 96-well solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. Measured concentrations of 21 biomarkers for antidepressant and opioid use were converted to population-normalized mass loads (PNML) by considering the flow rate and catchment population. To capture population movements, mobile phone data was used. Amitriptyline, hydroxy-bupropion, norcitalopram, citalopram, normirtazapine, trazodone, O-desmethylvenlafaxine, codeine, 2-ethylidene-1,5-dimethyl-3,3-diphenylpyrrolidine (EDDP), methadone, morphine, O-desmethyltramadol, and tramadol were included in the temporal assessment since concentrations were above the lower limit of quantification. The PNML of most biomarkers increased (with 3-119 %) throughout the sampling period. The population disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic led to a major change in the socio-demographics of the catchment area, resulting in temporal differences in the PNML of the different biomarkers. As such, higher PNML were observed during the different lockdown phases, which were characterized by the outflow of university students and a decreasing commuting in and out the catchment area. The effects of the fluctuating socio-demographics of the catchment population were further evidenced by the different week-weekend pattern of PNMLs over the course of the sampling campaign. Mean parent/metabolite ratios (i.e., citalopram/norcitalopram, tramadol/O-desmethyltramadol, venlafaxine/O-desmethylvenlafaxine, and methadone/EDDP) remained relatively stable throughout the entire sampling campaign (RSD% below 25 % for all ratios, except for methadone/EDDP) and therefore were not affected by this population change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tim Boogaerts
- Toxicological Centre, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium.
| | - Maarten Quireyns
- Toxicological Centre, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium
| | - Hans De Loof
- Laboratory of Physiopharmacology, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium
| | - Xander Bertels
- Department of Bioanalysis, Ghent University, Ottergemsesteenweg 460, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Natan Van Wichelen
- Toxicological Centre, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium
| | - Bram Pussig
- Academic Center for General Practice, Kapucijnenvoer 7, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jan Saevels
- Association of Pharmacists in Belgium (APB), Rue Stevin 137, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Lies Lahousse
- Department of Bioanalysis, Ghent University, Ottergemsesteenweg 460, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Pauline Bonmariage
- Association of Pharmacists in Belgium (APB), Rue Stevin 137, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Wouter Hamelinck
- Association of Pharmacists in Belgium (APB), Rue Stevin 137, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Bert Aertgeerts
- Academic Center for General Practice, Kapucijnenvoer 7, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Adrian Covaci
- Toxicological Centre, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium
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5
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Campo J, Vitale D, Sadutto D, Vera-Herrera L, Picó Y. Estimation of legal and illegal drugs consumption in Valencia City (Spain): 10 years of monitoring. WATER RESEARCH 2023; 240:120082. [PMID: 37224671 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2023.120082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2023] [Revised: 05/11/2023] [Accepted: 05/13/2023] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) approach provides objective, quantitative, near real-time profiles of illicit drug consumption by monitoring the concentration of unchanged parent drugs or their metabolites entering the municipal sewage system. Valencia is the third most populous city in Spain (an important country for the use and transit of several of these drugs). Estimations of consumption over long periods of time will help get better understanding of spatial and temporal trends in the use of licit and illicit drugs. Accordingly, applying the "best practice" protocol, 16 drugs of abuse and metabolites were monitored in this study, and 8 were daily measured during one-two weeks between 2011 and 2020 at the inlet of three wastewater treatment plants of Valencia City. Analysis of the selected compounds was performed by liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry, and the concentrations obtained were used to back-calculate the consumption data. Cannabis, tobacco, and cocaine were the most consumed drugs whereas opioids were less used. Cannabis and cocaine consumption are on average 2.7-23.4 and 1.1-2.3 g/day/1000inh, respectively, and their use tended to increase since 2018. Weekly profiles were characterized by higher consumption of cocaine, ecstasy, and heroin during weekends compared to weekdays. Similarly, during "Las Fallas" (main local festivity), increased use of cocaine and amphetamine-type stimulants, mainly MDMA, was measured. WBE proved to be an objective and useful methodology to get more insight on temporal drugs of abuse consumption, and the changes derived from local festivities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julian Campo
- Environmental and Food Safety Research Group (SAMA-UV). Desertification Research Centre - CIDE (Spanish National Research Council, University of Valencia, Generalitat Valenciana). Carretera CV-315 km 10.7 (Campus IVIA). 46113 Moncada, Valencia, Spain.
| | - Dyana Vitale
- Environmental and Food Safety Research Group (SAMA-UV). Desertification Research Centre - CIDE (Spanish National Research Council, University of Valencia, Generalitat Valenciana). Carretera CV-315 km 10.7 (Campus IVIA). 46113 Moncada, Valencia, Spain
| | - Daniele Sadutto
- Environmental and Food Safety Research Group (SAMA-UV). Desertification Research Centre - CIDE (Spanish National Research Council, University of Valencia, Generalitat Valenciana). Carretera CV-315 km 10.7 (Campus IVIA). 46113 Moncada, Valencia, Spain
| | - Lucia Vera-Herrera
- Environmental and Food Safety Research Group (SAMA-UV). Desertification Research Centre - CIDE (Spanish National Research Council, University of Valencia, Generalitat Valenciana). Carretera CV-315 km 10.7 (Campus IVIA). 46113 Moncada, Valencia, Spain
| | - Yolanda Picó
- Environmental and Food Safety Research Group (SAMA-UV). Desertification Research Centre - CIDE (Spanish National Research Council, University of Valencia, Generalitat Valenciana). Carretera CV-315 km 10.7 (Campus IVIA). 46113 Moncada, Valencia, Spain
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6
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Zheng Q, Gerber C, Steadman KJ, Lin CY, Tscharke BJ, O'Brien JW, Hobson P, Toms LM, Mueller JF, Thomas KV, Thai PK. Improving Wastewater-Based Tobacco Use Estimates Using Anabasine. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2023; 57:7958-7965. [PMID: 37192131 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c01510] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
In wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE), nicotine metabolites have been used as biomarkers for monitoring tobacco use. Recently, the minor tobacco alkaloids anabasine and anatabine have been suggested as more specific biomarkers for tobacco use since nicotine use can be from both tobacco and non-tobacco sources. This study aimed to provide an in-depth evaluation of the suitability of anabasine and anatabine as WBE biomarkers of tobacco and subsequently estimate their excretion factors for WBE applications. Pooled urine (n = 64) and wastewater samples (n = 277), collected between 2009 and 2019 in Queensland, Australia, were analyzed for nicotine and its metabolites (cotinine and hydroxycotinine), as well as anabasine and anatabine. Anabasine performed as the better biomarker, showing a similar per capita load in pooled urine (2.2 ± 0.3 μg/day/person) and wastewater samples (2.3 ± 0.3 μg/day/person), while the per capita load of anatabine in wastewater was 50% higher than its load in urine. It is estimated that 0.9 μg of anabasine was excreted per cigarette smoked. Triangulation of tobacco sales data and tobacco use estimated from either anabasine or cotinine showed that anabasine-based estimates were 5% higher than sales data, while cotinine-based estimates were between 2 and 28% higher. Our results provided concrete evidence to confirm the suitability of anabasine as a specific biomarker for monitoring tobacco use by WBE.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiuda Zheng
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Cobus Gerber
- Clinical and Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia
| | - Kathryn J Steadman
- School of Pharmacy, The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Chun-Yin Lin
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Benjamin J Tscharke
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Jake William O'Brien
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Peter Hobson
- Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology, 24 Hurworth Street, Bowen Hills, QLD 4006, Australia
| | - Leisa-Maree Toms
- School of Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, QLD 4059, Australia
| | - Jochen F Mueller
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Kevin V Thomas
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Phong K Thai
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, QLD 4102, Australia
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7
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Varga L, Fenner K, Singer H, Honti M. From market to environment - consumption-normalised pharmaceutical emissions in the Rhine catchment. WATER RESEARCH 2023; 239:120017. [PMID: 37172372 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2023.120017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2022] [Revised: 03/17/2023] [Accepted: 04/28/2023] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
Direct and indirect threats by organic micropollutants can only be reliably assessed and prevented if the exposure to these chemicals is known, which in turn requires a confident estimate of their emitted amounts into the environment. APIs (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients) enter surface waters mostly through the sewer system and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). However, their effluent fluxes are highly variable and influenced by several different factors that challenge robust emission estimates. Here, we defined a dimensionless, theoretically consumption-independent 'escape factor' (kesc) for estimating the amount of APIs (expected to be) present in WWTP effluents. The factor is determined as the proportion of marketed and actually emitted amounts of APIs. A large collection of German and Swiss monitoring datasets were analyzed to calculate stochastic kesc values for 31 APIs, reflecting both the magnitude and uncertainty of consumption-normalised emissions. Escape factors provide an easy-to-use tool for the estimation of average API emissions and expected variability from numerous WWTPs given that consumption data are provided, thereby supporting simulation modeling of the fate of APIs in stream networks or exposure assessments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Varga
- Department of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest H-1111, Hungary.
| | - Kathrin Fenner
- Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute for Aquatic Science and Technology, Dübendorf CH-8600, Switzerland; Department of Chemistry, University of Zürich, Zürich CH-8057, Switzerland
| | - Heinz Singer
- Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute for Aquatic Science and Technology, Dübendorf CH-8600, Switzerland
| | - Mark Honti
- Eötvös Loránd Research Network, ELKH-BME Water Research Group, Budapest H-1111, Hungary
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8
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Kannan A, Sims N, Hold AJ, Jagadeesan K, Standerwick R, Barden R, Kasprzyk-Hordern B. The burden of city's pain treatment - A longitudinal one year study of two cities via wastewater-based epidemiology. WATER RESEARCH 2023; 229:119391. [PMID: 36462253 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2022.119391] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2022] [Revised: 11/04/2022] [Accepted: 11/18/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
This paper explores Wastewater-Based Epidemiology (WBE) as a tool enabling understanding of city's pain treatment in an intercity longitudinal study. An intensive 13-month monitoring programme was undertaken in two adjacent urban areas in South-West England: a small commuter town Keynsham and the city of Bath (>180 samples collected). The study has shown a great potential of using triangulated WBE and National health Service (NHS) prescription data in understanding pain treatment in two contrasting communities with strong apparent seasonal patterns of short pain medications vs chronic pain treatment as well as the type of treatment used (e.g. oral vs topical). Community-wide usage of Non-Steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) and paracetamol in the intercity study is population size and season driven with the highest usage recorded in winter months. This contrasts with other pain pharmaceuticals, especially those used for chronic pain, where no/limited seasonal usage was recorded. Unmetabolized NSAIDs are, to a large extent, directly disposed of into the sewerage system bypassing metabolism due to their topical application. This is particularly apparent in winter months with naproxen showing the highest seasonal variability. Pharma/met (ratio of pharmaceutical and its metabolite concentration) analysis allows for tracking topical (non-metabolic) application/down-the-drain disposal of pharmaceuticals with frequent instances of direct disposal of NSAIDs into the sewerage system observed. Normalisation of pharma markers to population size shows comparable estimates of pharma usage in the two cities confirming population as the main driver of pharma loads in wastewater. Variable application patterns of pain pharmaceuticals make back-calculation of intake more convoluted. Intake calculated using percentage excretion of parent NSAIDs will likely lead to overestimation, as it is assumed that NSAIDs are subject to extensive metabolism (this is not the case for topical applications). Intake calculated using percentage excretion of metabolites (or parent compound) as consumption markers leads to underestimation of NSAIDs usage due to contributions from topical application not being accounted for. Prescription data indicates cumulative internal and topical usage, but the data ignores large proportion of over-the-counter usage. Therefore, we have proposed a combined approach allowing for estimation of total usage including, and differentiating between, topical application and oral administration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Kannan
- Department of Chemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, United Kingdom
| | - Natalie Sims
- Department of Chemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, United Kingdom
| | - Angus J Hold
- Department of Chemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, United Kingdom
| | - Kishore Jagadeesan
- Department of Chemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, United Kingdom
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9
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Gao Z, Li P, Lin H, Lin W, Ren Y. Biomarker selection strategies based on compound stability in wastewater-based epidemiology. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2023; 30:5516-5529. [PMID: 36418835 PMCID: PMC9684832 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-022-24268-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2022] [Accepted: 11/14/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
The specific compositions of human excreta in sewage can be used as biomarkers to indicate the disease prevalence, health status, and lifestyle of the population living in the investigated catchment. It is important for guiding and evaluating public health policies as well as promoting human health development. Among several parameters of wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE), the decay of biomarkers during transportation in sewer and storage plays a crucial role in the back-calculation of population consumption. In this paper, we summarized the stability data of common biomarkers in storage at different temperatures and in-sewer transportation. Among them, cardiovascular drugs and antidiabetic drugs are very stable which can be used as biomarkers; most of the illicit drugs are stable except for cocaine, heroin, and tetrahydrocannabinol which could be substituted by their metabolites as biomarkers. There are some losses for part of antibiotics and antidepressants even in frozen storage. Rapid detection of contagious viruses is a new challenge for infectious disease control. With the deeper and broader study of biomarkers, it is expected that the reliable application of the WBE will be a useful addition to epidemiological studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhihan Gao
- School of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China
| | - Ping Li
- Datansha Branch of Guangzhou Sewage Treatment Co., Ltd, Guangzhou, 510163, China
| | - Han Lin
- School of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China
| | - Wenting Lin
- School of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China
| | - Yuan Ren
- School of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
- The Key Lab of Pollution Control and Ecosystem Restoration in Industry Clusters, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
- The Key Laboratory of Environmental Protection and Eco-Remediation of Guangdong Regular Higher Education Institution, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
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10
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Gao J, Li L, Duan L, Yang M, Zhou X, Zheng Q, Ou Y, Li Z, Lai FY. Exploring antibiotic consumption between urban and sub-urban catchments using both parent drugs and related metabolites in wastewater-based epidemiology. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 827:154171. [PMID: 35231503 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2021] [Revised: 01/30/2022] [Accepted: 02/23/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Consumption of antibiotics leads to the dissemination of antimicrobial resistance worldwide. Better knowledge of temporal and spatial consumption of antibiotics helps public health authorities to control their usage and combat antimicrobial resistance. However, measuring antibiotic consumption with population surveys, sales data, and production statistics remains challenging due to the complexity of prescription preference, patient compliance, and direct disposal of unused drugs. With the approach of wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE), this study aims to evaluate the consumption of eight commonly-used antibiotics between developed urban and developing sub-urban catchments in China and to characterise the ratios of parent drugs to metabolites in studying the consumption. Seven parent antibiotics were detected in all the wastewater samples (n = 56), whereas some metabolites were detected sporadically. The ratios of parent chemicals to metabolites varied among locations and were often higher than the ratios in pharmacokinetic studies. Estimated consumption of antibiotics ranged from 3.2 ± 2.0 mg/day/1000 inhabitants for trimethoprim to 28,400 ± 7800 mg/day/1000 inhabitants for roxithromycin in the studied catchments. Higher consumption of sulfapyridine, sulfadiazine and roxithromycin was observed in urban than suburban catchments, while consumption of sulfamethoxazole, norfloxacin, and trimethoprim was higher in suburban than in urban catchments. Using the literature data, we found more than 95% reduction of antibiotic use in an urban catchment. Our study revealed the geographical pattern in antibiotic use across different urban and suburban catchments via WBE, and the potential of monitoring parent-to-metabolite ratios for WBE in estimating antibiotic use. These results provide a basis for health authorities to plan different drug-specific control policies between urban and suburban catchments, and for future WBE studies to be aware of other sources, such as animal husbandry and disposals of unused drugs, that can influence the estimated consumption.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianfa Gao
- College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
| | - Liangzhong Li
- State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Health Risk Assessment, South Institute of Environmental Science, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Guangzhou 510530, China
| | - Lei Duan
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Emerging Organic Contaminants Control, State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Mengting Yang
- College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China.
| | - Xi Zhou
- College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
| | - Qiuda Zheng
- The University of Queensland, Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, Woolloongabba 4102, Australia
| | - Yingjuan Ou
- College of Rosources and Environment, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410028, China
| | - Zongrui Li
- State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Health Risk Assessment, South Institute of Environmental Science, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Guangzhou 510530, China
| | - Foon Yin Lai
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), SE-75007, Uppsala, Sweden
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11
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Kumar N, Rana M, Geiwitz M, Khan NI, Catalano M, Ortiz-Marquez JC, Kitadai H, Weber A, Dweik B, Ling X, van Opijnen T, Argun AA, Burch KS. Rapid, Multianalyte Detection of Opioid Metabolites in Wastewater. ACS NANO 2022; 16:3704-3714. [PMID: 35201755 PMCID: PMC9949512 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.1c07094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
By monitoring opioid metabolites, wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) could be an excellent tool for real-time information on the consumption of illicit drugs. A key limitation of WBE is the reliance on costly laboratory-based techniques that require substantial infrastructure and trained personnel, resulting in long turnaround times. Here, we present an aptamer-based graphene field effect transistor (AptG-FET) platform for simultaneous detection of three different opioid metabolites. This platform provides a reliable, rapid, and inexpensive method for quantitative analysis of opioid metabolites in wastewater. The platform delivers a limit of detection 2-3 orders of magnitude lower than previous reports, but in line with the concentration range (pg/mL to ng/mL) of these opioid metabolites present in real samples. To enable multianalyte detection, we developed a facile, reproducible, and high-yield fabrication process producing 20 G-FETs with integrated side gate platinum (Pt) electrodes on a single chip. Our devices achieved the selective multianalyte detection of three different metabolites: noroxycodone (NX), 2-ethylidene-1,5-dimethyl-3,3-diphenylpyrrolidine (EDDP), and norfentanyl (NF) in wastewater diluted 20× in buffer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Narendra Kumar
- Department of Physics, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467, United States
| | - Muhit Rana
- Giner Inc., Newton, Massachusetts 02466, United States
| | - Michael Geiwitz
- Department of Physics, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467, United States
| | | | - Matthew Catalano
- Department of Physics, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467, United States
| | - Juan C Ortiz-Marquez
- Department of Biology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467, United States
| | - Hikari Kitadai
- Department of Chemistry, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
| | - Andrew Weber
- Giner Inc., Newton, Massachusetts 02466, United States
| | - Badawi Dweik
- Giner Inc., Newton, Massachusetts 02466, United States
| | - Xi Ling
- Department of Chemistry, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
| | - Tim van Opijnen
- Department of Biology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467, United States
| | - Avni A Argun
- Giner Inc., Newton, Massachusetts 02466, United States
| | - Kenneth S Burch
- Department of Physics, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467, United States
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12
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Pandopulos AJ, Simpson BS, White JM, Bade R, Gerber C. Partitioning of phytocannabinoids between faeces and water - Implications for wastewater-based epidemiology. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 805:150269. [PMID: 34536871 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2021] [Revised: 09/06/2021] [Accepted: 09/07/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Evaluating consumption estimates for lipophilic drugs in wastewater has proven to be a challenge. A common feature for these compounds is that they are excreted in faeces and in conjugated form in urine. Limited research with no obvious experimental evidence has been conducted to investigate the degree to which faecal-bound chemical markers contribute towards mass loads in wastewater. Cannabis chemical markers, known as phytocannabinoids, have been suggested in literature to fall into this category. In this study, cannabis users (n = 9) and non-cannabis users (n = 5) were recruited and provided faecal and urine samples after using the substance. The common chemical markers of cannabis consumption, 11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC-COOH), 11-hydroxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC-OH), Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), were investigated. An extraction method was developed for the cannabis chemical markers in faecal matter and urine and analysis was performed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Participant samples were used to establish adsorption and desorption dissolution kinetics models and to assess the equilibrium between faeces and water for these compounds. Equilibration between phases were found to be fast (<5 min). THC-COOH, which is the primary metabolite used in wastewater studies, partitioned ~40% in water while the less polar metabolite and CBD remained largely associated with the particulate fraction. Faecal loads of both cannabis users and non-users affected the total measured amounts of cannabinoids in the aqueous phase. The implications for wastewater monitoring of lipophilic substances are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron J Pandopulos
- University of South Australia, Clinical and Health Sciences (CHS), Health and Biomedical Innovation, South Australia 5000, Australia
| | - Bradley S Simpson
- University of South Australia, Clinical and Health Sciences (CHS), Health and Biomedical Innovation, South Australia 5000, Australia
| | - Jason M White
- University of South Australia, Clinical and Health Sciences (CHS), Health and Biomedical Innovation, South Australia 5000, Australia
| | - Richard Bade
- University of South Australia, Clinical and Health Sciences (CHS), Health and Biomedical Innovation, South Australia 5000, Australia
| | - Cobus Gerber
- University of South Australia, Clinical and Health Sciences (CHS), Health and Biomedical Innovation, South Australia 5000, Australia.
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13
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Verovšek T, Krizman-Matasic I, Heath D, Heath E. Investigation of drugs of abuse in educational institutions using wastewater analysis. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 799:150013. [PMID: 34602307 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2021] [Revised: 08/24/2021] [Accepted: 08/25/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater analysis was used to investigate drug prevalence in primary and secondary schools and institutes of higher education located in urban and non-urban areas of six municipalities in Slovenia. Seven-hour composite raw wastewater samples from 44 educational institutions, including 19 primary schools (6-15 yrs.), ten secondary schools (15-19 yrs.), nine higher education institutions (19+ yrs.) and six mixed secondary and higher education institutions (15+ yrs.), were collected at the end of the 2018/2019 academic year. Metabolic residues of licit drugs (nicotine and alcohol), medications of abuse (morphine, codeine and methadone) and illicit drugs (cannabis, cocaine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, ecstasy and heroin) were targeted in the study. The analysis was carried out using solid-phase extraction and direct injection combined ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). Biomarkers of nicotine, alcohol and cannabis intake were the most frequently detected, indicating a high prevalence of these drugs. Morphine and codeine were also detected, while among the stimulants, benzoylecgonine had the highest detection frequency. Drug differences were found between different levels of educational institution, geographic location (inter-municipality comparison) and degree of urbanization. However, t-distributed stochastic neighbour embedding (t-SNE) revealed that the level of educational institution was the main factor influencing the differences in drug prevalence. Although a good agreement between data from this study and other studies implementing wastewater analysis was observed, there was a discrepancy with Slovenian epidemiological survey data. Finally, despite certain drawbacks of the method, its application to detect drug residues in educational institutions provides a non-invasive insight into drug use trends.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taja Verovšek
- Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia; Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School, Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Ivona Krizman-Matasic
- Division for Marine and Environmental Research, Rudjer Boskovic Institute, Bijenicka 54, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
| | - David Heath
- Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia; Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School, Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Ester Heath
- Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia; Jožef Stefan International Postgraduate School, Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
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14
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Kamika I, Azizi S, Muleja AA, Selvarajan R, El-Liethy MA, Mamba BB, Nkambule TTI. The occurrence of opioid compounds in wastewater treatment plants and their receiving water bodies in Gauteng province, South Africa. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2021; 290:118048. [PMID: 34479162 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.118048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2021] [Revised: 08/07/2021] [Accepted: 08/23/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The continuous influx of opioid compounds into aquatic environments has become an increasing and persistent concern, due to their extensive use. This is especially alarming as wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are unable to completely remove them. Despite the reported health concerns, the occurrence of opioid compounds in the environment has not received much attention. The present study investigates the occurrence of 19 opioids in four WWTPs and their respective receiving water bodies. All wastewater samples revealed opioids at concentration ranging from ng/L to μg/L with most influents having higher concentrations than effluents. WWTPs appeared to perform poorly (p > 0.05 between influents and effluents), and were unable to remove some opioids including Methadone (-27.3%) from the Leeuwkuil WWTP, Codeine (-21.7%) and Thebaine (-3.77%) from the Sandspruit WWTP, and Hydrocodone (-1.06%) from the Meyerton WWTP, respectively. Samples collected from the Leeuwkuil WWTP were the most contaminated, with eighteen out of nineteen opioid analogues exceeding 1 μg/L. Upstream surface water contained less opioids (most < LOQ) than downstream (p < 0.05), with Hydrocodone, Oxycodone, Hydromorphone, Fentanyl, Ketamine and Dihydrocodeine not detected. The occurrence of high concentrations of opioid analogues in downstream surface water (298 ng/L -10.8 μg/L for Klip River, 4.49 ng/L -13.1 μg/L for Vaal River, 70.5 ng/L -10.0 μg/L for Soutspruit River and 8.0 ng/L - 2.43 μg/L for Sun Spruit River) was directly linked to their mass loads in the respective wastewater effluent samples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilunga Kamika
- Institute for Nanotechnology and Water Sustainability, College of Science, Engineering and Technology, University of South Africa, Florida, Johannesburg, 1710, South Africa.
| | - Shohreh Azizi
- UNESCO-UNISA Africa Chair in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology College of Graduates Studies, University of South Africa, Muckleneuk Ridge, PO Box 392, Pretoria, 0003, South Africa; Nanosciences African Network (NANOAFNET)-Materials Research Department, IThemba LABS-National Research Foundation, P.O. Box 722, Somerset West, Western Cape Province, 7129, South Africa
| | - Adolph A Muleja
- Institute for Nanotechnology and Water Sustainability, College of Science, Engineering and Technology, University of South Africa, Florida, Johannesburg, 1710, South Africa
| | - Ramganesh Selvarajan
- Department of Environmental Sciences, School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, University of South Africa, P.O. Box 392, Florida, 1710, South Africa
| | - Mohamed Azab El-Liethy
- Environmental Microbiology Lab., Water Pollution Research Department, National Research Centre, Dokki, Giza, 12622, Egypt
| | - Bheki B Mamba
- Institute for Nanotechnology and Water Sustainability, College of Science, Engineering and Technology, University of South Africa, Florida, Johannesburg, 1710, South Africa; State Key Laboratory of Separation Membranes and Membrane Processes, National Centre for International Joint Research on Membrane Science and Technology, Tianjin, 300387, PR China
| | - Thabo T I Nkambule
- Institute for Nanotechnology and Water Sustainability, College of Science, Engineering and Technology, University of South Africa, Florida, Johannesburg, 1710, South Africa
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15
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Bodík M, Mackuľak T, Feher M, Staňová AV, Grabicová K, Varjúová D, Bodík I. Searching for the correlations between the use of different groups of pharmaceuticals from wastewaters. ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY 2021; 228:112973. [PMID: 34794023 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2021.112973] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2021] [Revised: 10/12/2021] [Accepted: 11/03/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater contains a wealth of information about the inhabitants of cities. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has become an effective tool for monitoring public health by analyzing various biomarkers (e.g., chemicals and microorganisms) in wastewater. This way, the estimation of pharmaceuticals' consumption behavior and/or illicit drugs can be calculated. However, monitoring consumption alone is not the only option. If we consider wastewater as a statistical representation of the population's health, medical information can be derived. In this work, we used data from 15 different wastewater treatment plants in Slovak Republic to explore correlations between the use of typical pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs. The analysis was based on the wastewater monitoring data from four years (2016-2019), and 68 different compounds were taken into account. One of the strongest correlations found was between Antihyperlipidemics and Antihypertensives, with Pearson's correlation coefficient of 0.82. This type of analysis within the WBE represents a new potential as an additional source of information for the pharmaceutical, medical and government sectors in assessing health risk factors in the population. Such an evaluation method has even a great potential for artificial intelligence and machine learning for calculating health risk factors together with other sources of data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michal Bodík
- Nanotechnology group, ETH Zürich, Säumerstrasse 4, CH-8803 Rüschlikon, Switzerland.
| | - Tomáš Mackuľak
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Chemistry and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Radlinského 9, 812 37 Bratislava, Slovak Republic
| | - Miroslav Feher
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Chemistry and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Radlinského 9, 812 37 Bratislava, Slovak Republic
| | - Andrea Vojs Staňová
- Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Zátiší 728/II, 389 25 Vodňany, Czech Republic; Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Ilkovičova 6, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovak Republic
| | - Kateřina Grabicová
- Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Zátiší 728/II, 389 25 Vodňany, Czech Republic
| | - Dóra Varjúová
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Chemistry and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Radlinského 9, 812 37 Bratislava, Slovak Republic
| | - Igor Bodík
- Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Chemistry and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Radlinského 9, 812 37 Bratislava, Slovak Republic
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16
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Boogaerts T, Ahmed F, Choi PM, Tscharke B, O'Brien J, De Loof H, Gao J, Thai P, Thomas K, Mueller JF, Hall W, Covaci A, van Nuijs ALN. Current and future perspectives for wastewater-based epidemiology as a monitoring tool for pharmaceutical use. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 789:148047. [PMID: 34323839 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2021] [Revised: 05/21/2021] [Accepted: 05/21/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The medical and societal consequences of the misuse of pharmaceuticals clearly justify the need for comprehensive drug utilization research (DUR). Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) employs the analysis of human metabolic excretion products in wastewater to monitor consumption patterns of xenobiotics at the population level. Recently, WBE has demonstrated its potential to evaluate lifestyle factors such as illicit drug, alcohol and tobacco consumption at the population level, in near real-time and with high spatial and temporal resolution. Up until now there have been fewer WBE studies investigating health biomarkers such as pharmaceuticals. WBE publications monitoring the consumption of pharmaceuticals were systematically reviewed from three databases (PubMed, Web of Science and Google Scholar). 64 publications that reported population-normalised mass loads or defined daily doses of pharmaceuticals were selected. We document that WBE could be employed as a complementary information source for DUR. Interest in using WBE approaches for monitoring pharmaceutical use is growing but more foundation research (e.g. compound-specific uncertainties) is required to link WBE data to routine pharmacoepidemiologic information sources and workflows. WBE offers the possibility of i) estimating consumption of pharmaceuticals through the analysis of human metabolic excretion products in wastewater; ii) monitoring spatial and temporal consumption patterns of pharmaceuticals continuously and in near real-time; and iii) triangulating data with other DUR information sources to assess the impacts of strategies or interventions to reduce inappropriate use of pharmaceuticals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tim Boogaerts
- Toxicological Centre, University of Antwerp, Belgium, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium.
| | - Fahad Ahmed
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall St, Woolloongabba, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Phil M Choi
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall St, Woolloongabba, QLD 4102, Australia; Water Unit, Health Protection Branch, Prevention Division, Queensland Health, GPO Box 48, Brisbane, QLD 4001, Australia
| | - Benjamin Tscharke
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall St, Woolloongabba, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Jake O'Brien
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall St, Woolloongabba, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Hans De Loof
- Laboratory of Physiopharmacology, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium
| | - Jianfa Gao
- College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Shenzhen University, 1066 Xueyuan Avenue, Shenzhen 518060, China
| | - Phong Thai
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall St, Woolloongabba, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Kevin Thomas
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall St, Woolloongabba, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Jochen F Mueller
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall St, Woolloongabba, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Wayne Hall
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall St, Woolloongabba, QLD 4102, Australia; Centre for Youth Substance Abuse, University of Queensland, 17 Upland Road, Woolloongabba, QLD 4102, Australia
| | - Adrian Covaci
- Toxicological Centre, University of Antwerp, Belgium, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Alexander L N van Nuijs
- Toxicological Centre, University of Antwerp, Belgium, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium.
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17
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Boogaerts T, Quireyns M, Covaci A, De Loof H, van Nuijs AL. Analytical method for the simultaneous determination of a broad range of opioids in influent wastewater: Optimization, validation and applicability to monitor consumption patterns. Talanta 2021; 232:122443. [DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2021.122443] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2021] [Revised: 04/13/2021] [Accepted: 04/18/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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18
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Boogaerts T, Jurgelaitiene L, Dumitrascu C, Kasprzyk-Hordern B, Kannan A, Been F, Emke E, de Voogt P, Covaci A, van Nuijs ALN. Application of wastewater-based epidemiology to investigate stimulant drug, alcohol and tobacco use in Lithuanian communities. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 777:145914. [PMID: 33677284 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145914] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2020] [Revised: 01/25/2021] [Accepted: 02/12/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
WBE was applied to evaluate illicit drug (i.e. amphetamine, cocaine, MDMA and methamphetamine), alcohol and tobacco use in three Lithuanian cities in 2018 and 2019. Considerable concentrations of methamphetamine and MDMA were found in the three locations, suggesting a specific Lithuanian consumption pattern. Yet, unexpected high concentrations of amphetamine (>4 μg/L) were detected in two samples of Kaunas in 2018. Through the use of chiral analysis and non-target and suspect drug precursor compound screening, these extreme values were confirmed to be the result of direct disposal of amphetamine in the sewers. Furthermore, substantial alcohol use was measured in the three investigated catchment populations of Lithuania with almost 4 standard drinks/day/inhabitant aged 15+ on average in 2019. For tobacco, an average of 5.6 cigarettes/day/inhabitant aged 15+ in 2019 was reported with large discrepancies between WBE figures and sales data, potentially highlighting illegal trade of tobacco products.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tim Boogaerts
- Toxicological Centre, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium
| | | | - Catalina Dumitrascu
- Toxicological Centre, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern
- Environmental Chemistry and Public Health research group, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom
| | - Andrew Kannan
- Environmental Chemistry and Public Health research group, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom
| | - Frederic Been
- KWR Water Research Institute, Nieuwegein, the Netherlands
| | - Erik Emke
- KWR Water Research Institute, Nieuwegein, the Netherlands
| | - Pim de Voogt
- KWR Water Research Institute, Nieuwegein, the Netherlands; Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Adrian Covaci
- Toxicological Centre, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium
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19
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Liu X, Zhang R, Cheng H, Khorram MS, Zhao S, Tham TT, Tran TM, Minh TB, Jiang B, Jin B, Zhang G. Field evaluation of diffusive gradients in thin-film passive samplers for wastewater-based epidemiology. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 773:145480. [PMID: 33592478 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145480] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2020] [Revised: 01/24/2021] [Accepted: 01/24/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
There is a need for a simple water sampling technique to enable routine monitoring of community drug consumption through wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE). This study investigates the potential use of diffusive gradients in thin films to sample organic compounds (o-DGT) for WBE. Three types of resin gels (HLB, XAD 18, and XDA-1) within o-DGT samplers each were deployed in triplicate at the inlets of two sewage treatment plants of Southern Asian cities. The target compounds included 15 illicit drugs and 18 antibiotics. A comprehensive evaluation was undertaken regarding each resin's ability to accumulate the target compounds and accuracy by comparing active samples. The organic compounds accumulated on each resin gel were characterised at the molecular level using Fourier transform ion-cyclotron-resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS). The results showed that the HLB resin performed better than the XAD 18 and XDA-1 resins. Based on calculations using the HLB-DGT data, methamphetamine and heroin were the two most popular illicit drugs consumed among the studied populations, and were followed by ketamine and codeine, which agreed well with the authoritative reports and reference data. The total drug consumption in Hanoi was one order of magnitude higher than that in Guangzhou, thus implying a probably more serious drug situation in the former. Overall, the findings of this study demonstrate that o-DGT passive samplers are a promising tool for WBE studies, particularly at WWTPs or in urban streams where an automatic sampler for taking composite water samples is absent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Protection and Resources Utilization, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Psychoactive Substances Monitoring and Safety, Guangzhou, China
| | - Ruiling Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Protection and Resources Utilization, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China
| | - Hao Cheng
- Nanjing Vision Environmental Science & Technology CO., LTD., Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Mahdi Safaei Khorram
- State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Protection and Resources Utilization, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China
| | - Shizhen Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Protection and Resources Utilization, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China
| | - Trinh Thi Tham
- Faculty of Environment, Hanoi University of Natural Resources and Environment, 41A Phu Dien, North-Tu Liem, Hanoi, Vietnam
| | - Tri Manh Tran
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Science, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, 19 Le Thanh Tong, Hanoi 10000, Vietnam
| | - Tu Binh Minh
- Faculty of Chemistry, University of Science, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, 19 Le Thanh Tong, Hanoi 10000, Vietnam
| | - Bin Jiang
- State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Protection and Resources Utilization, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China
| | - Biao Jin
- State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Protection and Resources Utilization, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China
| | - Gan Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Protection and Resources Utilization, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Psychoactive Substances Monitoring and Safety, Guangzhou, China.
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20
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Langa I, Gonçalves R, Tiritan ME, Ribeiro C. Wastewater analysis of psychoactive drugs: Non-enantioselective vs enantioselective methods for estimation of consumption. Forensic Sci Int 2021; 325:110873. [PMID: 34153554 DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2021.110873] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2021] [Revised: 05/17/2021] [Accepted: 06/10/2021] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
The consumption of licit and illicit psychoactive drugs (PAD) is ubiquitous in all communities and a serious public health problem. Measuring drug consumption is difficult but essential for health-care professionals, risk assessment and policymakers. Different sources of information have been used for a comprehensive analysis of drug consumption. Among them, Wastewater based epidemiology (WBE) emerged as an essential and complementary methodology for estimating licit and illicit drugs consumption. This methodology can be used for quantification of unchanged drugs or their human-specific metabolites in wastewater for estimation of consumption or screening of new PAD. Although some limitations are still being pointed out (e.g., estimation of the population size, use of suitable biomarkers or pharmacokinetics studies), the non-invasive and potential for monitoring real-time data on geographical and temporal trends in drug use have been showing its capacity as a routine and complementary tool. Chromatographic methods, both non-enantioselective and enantioselective are the analytical tools used for quantification of PAD in wastewaters and further estimation of consumption. Therefore, this manuscript aims to summarize and critically discuss the works used for wastewater analysis of PAD based on WBE using non-enantioselective and enantioselective methods for estimation of consumption. Non-enantioselective methods are among the most reported including for chiral PAD. Nevertheless, a trend has been seen towards the development of enantioselective methods as most PAD are chiral and determination of the enantiomeric fraction can provide additional information (e.g., distinction between consumption or direct disposal, or manufacture processes) and fulfill some WBE gaps.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivan Langa
- CESPU, Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada em Ciências e Tecnologias da Saúde, Rua Central de Gandra, 1317, 4585-116 Gandra PRD, Portugal
| | - Ricardo Gonçalves
- CESPU, Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada em Ciências e Tecnologias da Saúde, Rua Central de Gandra, 1317, 4585-116 Gandra PRD, Portugal
| | - Maria Elizabeth Tiritan
- CESPU, Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada em Ciências e Tecnologias da Saúde, Rua Central de Gandra, 1317, 4585-116 Gandra PRD, Portugal; Laboratório de Química Orgânica e Farmacêutica, Departamento de Ciências Químicas, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade do Porto, Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal; Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental (CIIMAR/CIMAR), Universidade do Porto, Edifício do Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões, Av. General Norton de Matos s/n, 4050-208 Matosinhos, Portugal.
| | - Cláudia Ribeiro
- CESPU, Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada em Ciências e Tecnologias da Saúde, Rua Central de Gandra, 1317, 4585-116 Gandra PRD, Portugal; Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental (CIIMAR/CIMAR), Universidade do Porto, Edifício do Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões, Av. General Norton de Matos s/n, 4050-208 Matosinhos, Portugal.
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21
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Gao J, Tscharke BJ, Choi PM, O'Brien JW, Boogaerts T, Jiang H, Yang M, Hollingworth SA, Thai PK. Using Prescription and Wastewater Data to Estimate the Correction Factors of Atenolol, Carbamazepine, and Naproxen for Wastewater-Based Epidemiology Applications. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2021; 55:7551-7560. [PMID: 33988986 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.1c00931] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
The correction factor (CF) is a critical parameter in wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) that significantly influences the accuracy of the final consumption estimates. However, most CFs have been derived from a few old pharmacokinetic studies and should be re-evaluated and refined to improve the accuracy of the WBE approach. This study aimed to review and estimate the CFs for atenolol, carbamazepine, and naproxen for WBE using the daily mass loads of those pharmaceuticals in wastewater and their corresponding dispensed prescription data in Australia. Influent wastewater samples were collected from wastewater treatment plants serving approximately 24% of the Australian population and annual national dispensed prescription data. The estimated CFs for atenolol and carbamazepine are 1.37 (95% CI: 1.17-1.66) and 8.69 (95% CI: 7.66-10.03), respectively. Due to significant over-the-counter sales of naproxen, a reliable CF could not be estimated based on prescription statistics. Using an independent dataset of 186 and 149 wastewater samples collected in an urban catchment in 2011 and 2012, WBE results calculated using the new CFs matched well with the dispensed data for atenolol and carbamazepine in the catchment area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianfa Gao
- College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Shenzhen University, 1066 Xueyuan Avenue, Shenzhen 518060, China
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, 4102 Brisbane, Australia
| | - Benjamin J Tscharke
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, 4102 Brisbane, Australia
| | - Phil M Choi
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, 4102 Brisbane, Australia
| | - Jake W O'Brien
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, 4102 Brisbane, Australia
| | - Tim Boogaerts
- Toxicological Centre, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Hui Jiang
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, 4102 Brisbane, Australia
| | - Mengting Yang
- College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Shenzhen University, 1066 Xueyuan Avenue, Shenzhen 518060, China
| | - Samantha A Hollingworth
- School of Pharmacy, The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, 4102 Brisbane, Australia
| | - Phong K Thai
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, 4102 Brisbane, Australia
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22
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Liu SY, Yu WJ, Wang YR, Shao XT, Wang DG. Tracing consumption patterns of stimulants, opioids, and ketamine in China by wastewater-based epidemiology. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2021; 28:16754-16766. [PMID: 33394399 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-020-12035-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2020] [Accepted: 12/08/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Illicit drug use has long been a key issue of international concern, and the true situation is unknown to the relevant authorities. To develop a profile of comprehensive consumption patterns of illicit drugs in China, data from 34 wastewater treatment plants in 25 cities were collected to analyze four classes of drugs, including amphetamine-type stimulants, opioids, ketamine, and cocaine. They were identified and quantified in samples using methods based on gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. According to the wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) approach, an analysis of the consumption pattern was performed regarding per inhabitant consumption based on the revised metabolic rate. The consumption quantity of illicit drug and precursor was divided into four categories based on statistical difference analyses: methamphetamine and ephedrine (precursor) were the predominant drugs in the first category, followed by ketamine and heroin in the second category, methcathinone and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in the third category, and cocaine and methadone in the fourth category. There were distinctive spatial patterns: heroin and cocaine consumption was higher in Southern China than in Northern China, heroin consumption was higher in Western China than in Eastern China, and the consumption of each drug differed across seven regions of China, especially with ephedrine and methcathinone consumption higher in North China; heroin consumption higher in Southwest, Central, and Northwest China; and ketamine and MDMA consumption higher in East, South, and Central China. Compared with findings in previous studies, there were temporal patterns, in which ketamine consumption presented a downward trend but heroin remained stable. Based on correlation analyses, there were the polydrug abuse patterns between heroin and cocaine, methcathinone and ketamine, and cocaine and MDMA. In general, this study based on WBE provides a comprehensive evaluation of drug consumption in China.
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Affiliation(s)
- Si-Yu Liu
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Dalian Maritime University, No. 1 Linghai Road, Dalian, China
| | - Wen-Jing Yu
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Dalian Maritime University, No. 1 Linghai Road, Dalian, China
| | - Yi-Ru Wang
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Dalian Maritime University, No. 1 Linghai Road, Dalian, China
| | - Xue-Ting Shao
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Dalian Maritime University, No. 1 Linghai Road, Dalian, China
| | - De-Gao Wang
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Dalian Maritime University, No. 1 Linghai Road, Dalian, China.
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23
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Wang S, Green HC, Wilder ML, Du Q, Kmush BL, Collins MB, Larsen DA, Zeng T. High-throughput wastewater analysis for substance use assessment in central New York during the COVID-19 pandemic. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE. PROCESSES & IMPACTS 2020; 22:2147-2161. [PMID: 33104143 DOI: 10.1039/d0em00377h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater entering sewer networks represents a unique source of pooled epidemiological information. In this study, we coupled online solid-phase extraction with liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry to achieve high-throughput analysis of health and lifestyle-related substances in untreated municipal wastewater during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Twenty-six substances were identified and quantified in influent samples collected from six wastewater treatment plants during the COVID-19 pandemic in central New York. Over a 12 week sampling period, the mean summed consumption rate of six major substance groups (i.e., antidepressants, antiepileptics, antihistamines, antihypertensives, synthetic opioids, and central nervous system stimulants) correlated with disparities in household income, marital status, and age of the contributing populations as well as the detection frequency of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA in wastewater and the COVID-19 test positivity in the studied sewersheds. Nontarget screening revealed the covariation of piperine, a nontarget substance, with SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater collected from one of the sewersheds. Overall, this proof-of-the-concept study demonstrated the utility of high-throughput wastewater analysis for assessing the population-level substance use patterns during a public health crisis such as COVID-19.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shiru Wang
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244, USA.
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24
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Jones NS, Comparin JH. Interpol review of controlled substances 2016-2019. Forensic Sci Int Synerg 2020; 2:608-669. [PMID: 33385148 PMCID: PMC7770462 DOI: 10.1016/j.fsisyn.2020.01.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2020] [Accepted: 01/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
This review paper covers the forensic-relevant literature in controlled substances from 2016 to 2019 as a part of the 19th Interpol International Forensic Science Managers Symposium. The review papers are also available at the Interpol website at: https://www.interpol.int/content/download/14458/file/Interpol%20Review%20Papers%202019.pdf.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole S. Jones
- RTI International, Applied Justice Research Division, Center for Forensic Sciences, 3040 E. Cornwallis Road, Research Triangle Park, NC, 22709-2194, USA
| | - Jeffrey H. Comparin
- United States Drug Enforcement Administration, Special Testing and Research Laboratory, USA
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25
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Du P, Zheng Q, Thomas KV, Li X, Thai PK. A revised excretion factor for estimating ketamine consumption by wastewater-based epidemiology - Utilising wastewater and seizure data. ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL 2020; 138:105645. [PMID: 32203805 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2020.105645] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2019] [Revised: 03/06/2020] [Accepted: 03/07/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The rate of drug excretion (excretion factor) is a critical parameter for monitoring drug consumption in the population by wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE). Previous studies have refined excretion factors for common illicit drugs, such as cocaine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, heroin, to improve the accuracy and reduce uncertainty in back-calculating consumption. Nevertheless, for ketamine, one of the most prevalent psychoactive substances, a careful review of its excretion factors has not been performed due to limited pharmacokinetic data. Here we review WBE studies and seizure data to refine and validate the excretion factors for ketamine and norketamine. The average ketamine/norketamine ratio in wastewater (5.36) was much higher than that found in urine (0.64), which means that the excretion factors derived only from pharmacokinetics data are not appropriate. Based on the comparison of the ratio between estimated consumptions of ketamine and methamphetamine by WBE with their corresponding ratio in official seizure data, a revised WBE excretion factor of 20% was proposed for ketamine following this review and applied to estimate the ketamine consumption in China. The revised estimates of ketamine consumption corresponded well with drug statistics. This suggests that the revised ketamine excretion factor is appropriate for estimating ketamine consumption by WBE. Systematic review of WBE studies is a suitable approach to refine the excretion factors for substances with inadequate pharmacokinetic data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peng Du
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Urban Hydrological Cycle and Sponge City Technology, College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Qiuda Zheng
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4102, Australia
| | - Kevin V Thomas
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4102, Australia
| | - Xiqing Li
- Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Phong K Thai
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4102, Australia.
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26
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Monitoring consumption of methadone and heroin in major Chinese cities by wastewater-based epidemiology. Drug Alcohol Depend 2019; 205:107532. [PMID: 31683242 DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2019.06.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2019] [Revised: 06/21/2019] [Accepted: 06/28/2019] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) services have been used in China for treatment of heroin dependence. But no study has been conducted to assess the appropriateness of MMT distribution and the potential abuse of methadone in China. This study aims to do that through a nationwide estimation of methadone consumption in China via wastewater-based epidemiology and subsequently compare it with MMT data and level of heroin abuse. METHODS Wastewater samples were collected from 53 wastewater treatment plants in 27 major cities that cover all geographic regions of China. Methadone and pure heroin consumptions were estimated based on influent concentrations of methadone, 2-ethylidene-1,5-dimethyl-3,3-diphenylpyrrolidine (EDDP), morphine and codeine. RESULTS Drug residues were detected in most samples. The ratio of EDDP/methadone was around 2 in influents and methadone and EDDP loads were strongly correlated, indicating that they originated from human consumption. Both influent methadone and EDDP loads in Southwest and Northwest China were significantly higher than those in other regions. The highest estimated consumptions of methadone and heroin in China were 22.0 ± 2.1 mg/1000 in./d and 263.9 ± 115.9 mg/1000 in./d, respectively. There was a significant positive correlation between methadone and heroin consumptions. CONCLUSIONS Consumption of methadone in China was primarily from MMT services. The use of methadone and heroin displayed a clear geographical pattern: it is higher in the western inland regions than in the eastern regions. This study has shown that the distribution of MMT services is reflective of the level of heroin abuse in different regions of China.
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27
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Zhang X, Huang R, Li P, Ren Y, Gao J, Mueller JF, Thai PK. Temporal profile of illicit drug consumption in Guangzhou, China monitored by wastewater-based epidemiology. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2019; 26:23593-23602. [PMID: 31203544 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-019-05575-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2019] [Accepted: 05/24/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has been widely used as a complementary method for estimating consumption of illicit drugs in the population. Temporal drug consumption estimates derived from WBE can provide important information for law enforcement and public health authorities in understanding changes in supply and demand of illicit drugs, but currently lacking in China. In this study, influent wastewater samples from a municipal sewage treatment plant in Guangzhou, China were collected for 8 weeks to investigate the temporal change in consumption of six illicit drugs in the catchment. The results indicated that methamphetamine and ketamine were the dominant illicit drugs in Guangzhou with the per capita use of 14.7-470.7 mg/day/1000 people and 64.9-673.7 mg/day/1000 people, respectively. No distinct weekly patterns were observed for illicit drug consumption in Guangzhou, indicating that drug users are likely to be regular ones. Further assessment about the impact of public holidays on the consumption behavior of drugs showed little impact for ketamine (p = 0.689), but higher consumptions of methamphetamine (p = 0.003) and cocaine (p = 0.027) were observed during public holidays than the control period. The considerable decrease in drug consumption observed in October 2017 compared with January and May 2017 was possibly the consequence of law enforcement action.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaohan Zhang
- School of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Higher Education Mega Center, Panyu District, Guangzhou, 510006, People's Republic of China
| | - Riheng Huang
- Guangzhou Sewage Purification Co., Ltd, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China
| | - Ping Li
- School of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Higher Education Mega Center, Panyu District, Guangzhou, 510006, People's Republic of China
| | - Yuan Ren
- School of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Higher Education Mega Center, Panyu District, Guangzhou, 510006, People's Republic of China.
- The Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Ecosystem Restoration in Industry Clusters, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, 510006, People's Republic of China.
- The Key Laboratory of Environmental Protection and Eco-Remediation of Guangdong Regular Higher Education Institutions, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
| | - Jianfa Gao
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Science (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, QLD, 4102, Australia.
| | - Jochen F Mueller
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Science (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, QLD, 4102, Australia
| | - Phong K Thai
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Science (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, QLD, 4102, Australia
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28
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Campos-Mañas MC, Ferrer I, Thurman EM, Sánchez Pérez JA, Agüera A. Identification of opioids in surface and wastewaters by LC/QTOF-MS using retrospective data analysis. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2019; 664:874-884. [PMID: 30769311 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.01.389] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2018] [Revised: 01/29/2019] [Accepted: 01/29/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Opioids, both as prescription drugs and abuse substances, have been a hot topic and a focus of discussion in the media for the last few years. Although the literature published shows the occurrence of opioids and some of their metabolites in the aquatic environment, there are scarce data in the application of high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) for the analysis of these compounds in the environment. The use of HRMS allows increasing the number of opioids that can be studied as well as the detection of unknown opioids, their metabolites and potential transformation products. In this work, a retrospective analysis for the identification of opioids and their metabolites using a curated database was applied to surface water and wastewater samples taken in the state of Minnesota (U.S.) in 2009, which were previously analyzed by liquid chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC/TOF-MS) for antidepressants. The database comprised >200 opioids including natural opiates (e.g. morphine and codeine), their semi-synthetic derivatives (e.g. heroin, hydromorphone, hydrocodone, oxycodone, oxymorphone, meperidine and buprenorphine), fully synthetic opioids (e.g. fentanyl, methadone, tramadol, dextromethorphan and propoxyphene), as well as some of their metabolites (e.g. 6-monoacetylcodeine, dextrorphan, EDDP, normorphine and O-desmethyltramadol). Moreover, additional MS-MS experiments were performed to confirm their identification, as well as to recognize fragmentation patterns and diagnostic ions for several opioids. These data provide a better understanding of the historical occurrence of opioids and their metabolites in surface waters impacted by wastewater sources. The concentrations of individual opioids in surface water and wastewater effluent varied from 8.8 (EDDP) to 1640 (tramadol) ngL-1 and from 12 (dihydrocodeine) to 1288 (tramadol) ngL-1, respectively. The opioids with higher overall frequency detections were tramadol, dextromethorphan and its metabolite, dextrorphan.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina Celia Campos-Mañas
- Solar Energy Research Centre (CIESOL), Joint Centre University of Almería-CIEMAT, Ctra de Sacramento s/n, 04120 Almería, Spain
| | - Imma Ferrer
- Center for Environmental Mass Spectrometry, Dpt. Environmental Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80303, USA.
| | - E Michael Thurman
- Center for Environmental Mass Spectrometry, Dpt. Environmental Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80303, USA
| | - José Antonio Sánchez Pérez
- Solar Energy Research Centre (CIESOL), Joint Centre University of Almería-CIEMAT, Ctra de Sacramento s/n, 04120 Almería, Spain
| | - Ana Agüera
- Solar Energy Research Centre (CIESOL), Joint Centre University of Almería-CIEMAT, Ctra de Sacramento s/n, 04120 Almería, Spain
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29
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Kumar R, Tscharke B, O'Brien J, Mueller JF, Wilkins C, Padhye LP. Assessment of drugs of abuse in a wastewater treatment plant with parallel secondary wastewater treatment train. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2019; 658:947-957. [PMID: 30583189 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.12.167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2018] [Revised: 12/11/2018] [Accepted: 12/11/2018] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
In this study, 24-hour composite wastewater samples were collected from a wastewater treatment plant of New Zealand with parallel secondary treatment units. The aim was to investigate the occurrence, removal, and consumption of 13 drugs of abuse (DOAs) including illicit drugs, alcohol, nicotine, and their metabolites. The filtered samples were analysed through direct injection on LC-MS/MS. Ethyl sulfate, one of the major metabolites of alcohol, was detected at the highest concentration (mean = 8300 ng/L) in wastewater influent. The mean concentrations of methamphetamine and hydroxycotinine in the influent were found to be 935 ng/L and 5000 ng/L, respectively. Amphetamine (383 ng/L) and cocaine (286 ng/L) were detected at the highest concentrations in the effluent. The removal efficiency of the treatment plant varied for DOAs: >99% for morphine, ethyl sulfate, and hydroxycotinine and <50% for methadone and 2-ethylidene-1,5-dimethyl-3,3-diphenylpyrrolidine (EDDP). Primary treatment did not show any significant removal of DOAs while the removal efficiencies of total monitored DOAs by Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) and Bardenpho processes were found to be similar (~95% removal). The population was estimated using hydrochemical parameters and human urine biomarkers and showed good agreement with wastewater treatment plant's estimates. Weekday-weekend variation in the consumption of alcohol and methamphetamine was found to be significant, with a higher estimated consumption during the weekends. Monitored DOAs in influent were present at highest concentrations during summer (23 μg/L), at low concentrations during winter (17 μg/L), and at lowest concentrations during heavy rainfall event (11 μg/L), possibly due to dilution. The population normalised mass loads of DOAs were found to correlate with their metabolites, and morphine was found to correlate with nicotine metabolites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rahul Kumar
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Ben Tscharke
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street Woolloongabba, 4102 Brisbane, Australia
| | - Jake O'Brien
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street Woolloongabba, 4102 Brisbane, Australia
| | - Jochen F Mueller
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, 20 Cornwall Street Woolloongabba, 4102 Brisbane, Australia
| | - Chris Wilkins
- SHORE and Whariki Research Centre, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Lokesh P Padhye
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
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30
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Kostanjevecki P, Petric I, Loncar J, Smital T, Ahel M, Terzic S. Biodegradation study of methadone by adapted activated sludge: Elimination kinetics, transformation products and ecotoxicological evaluation. CHEMOSPHERE 2019; 214:719-728. [PMID: 30293025 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.09.153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2018] [Revised: 09/25/2018] [Accepted: 09/26/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
The biotransformation study of difficult-to-degrade opioid analgesic methadone (MTHD) was performed by activated sludge culture adapted to high concentration of methadone (10 mg/L). The study included determination of elimination kinetics of the parent compound, taxonomic characterization of microbial culture, identification of biotransformation products (TPs) and assessment of ecotoxicological effects of biotransformation processes. The chemical analyses were performed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry, whereas the ecotoxicological assessment was made based on determinations of toxicity to freshwater algae. Changes of the adapted sludge culture during the experiment were followed using the 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Depending on the experimental conditions, the elimination efficiency of methadone (10 mg/L) varied from 9% to 93% with the corresponding half-lives from 11.4 days to 1.5 days. A significantly faster elimination (t1/2 from 1.5 days to 5.8 days) was achieved at cometabolic conditions, using glucose-containing media, as compared to the experiments with MTHD as a single organic carbon source (t1/2 = 11.4 days). Moreover, increased biotransformation rate following the additional supplementation of ammonia, revealed a possible importance of nitrogen availability for the transformation at cometabolic conditions. The elimination of parent compound was associated with the formation of 3 different TPs, two of which were identical to main human metabolites of MTHD, 2-Ethylidene-1,5-dimethyl-3,3-diphenylpyrrolidine (EDDP) and 2-ethyl-5-methyl-3,3-diphenyl-1-pyrroline (EMDP). EDDP represented over 90% of the total TP concentration at the end of experiment. The biodegradation of MTHD was associated with a pronounced drop in algal toxicity, confirming a rather positive ecotoxicological outcome of the achieved biotransformation processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Petra Kostanjevecki
- Division of Marine and Environmental Research, Rudjer Boskovic Institute, Bijenicka 54, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Ines Petric
- Division of Marine and Environmental Research, Rudjer Boskovic Institute, Bijenicka 54, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Jovica Loncar
- Division of Marine and Environmental Research, Rudjer Boskovic Institute, Bijenicka 54, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Tvrtko Smital
- Division of Marine and Environmental Research, Rudjer Boskovic Institute, Bijenicka 54, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Marijan Ahel
- Division of Marine and Environmental Research, Rudjer Boskovic Institute, Bijenicka 54, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Senka Terzic
- Division of Marine and Environmental Research, Rudjer Boskovic Institute, Bijenicka 54, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia.
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Gushgari AJ, Driver EM, Steele JC, Halden RU. Tracking narcotics consumption at a Southwestern U.S. university campus by wastewater-based epidemiology. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 2018; 359:437-444. [PMID: 30059885 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2018.07.073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2018] [Revised: 07/17/2018] [Accepted: 07/18/2018] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) was applied to estimate the consumption of twelve narcotics within a Southwestern U.S. university campus. Seven consecutive 24-hour composite raw wastewater samples (n = 80) were obtained once per month from sampling locations capturing >95% of campus-generated wastewater. Samples were analyzed for indicators of consumption of morphine, codeine, oxycodone, heroin, fentanyl, methadone, buprenorphine, amphetamine, methylphenidate, alprazolam, cocaine, and MDMA using LC-MS/MS. Eleven indicator compounds (oxycodone, codeine, norcodeine, 6-acetylmorphine, EDDP, amphetamine, alprazolam, alpha-hydroxyalprazolam, cocaine, benzoylecgonine, and MDMA) occurred at 100% detection frequency across the study, followed by morphine-3-glucuronide (98%), noroxycodone (95%), methylphenidate (90%), heroin (7%), norfentanyl (7%), and fentanyl (5%). Estimates of average narcotics consumption ranked as follows in units of mg/day/1000 persons: heroin (474 ± 32), cocaine (551 ± 49), amphetamine (256 ± 12), methylphenidate (236 ± 28), methadone (72 ± 8), oxycodone (80 ± 6), alprazolam (60 ± 2), MDMA (88 ± 35), codeine (50 ± 4), and morphine (18 ± 3). This campus-based WBE study yielded baseline data on 12 narcotics for a U.S. campus and demonstrated for the first time the feasibility of detecting the fentanyl metabolite norfentanyl in this setting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam J Gushgari
- Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering, The Biodesign Institute, and School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Arizona State University, 781 E. Terrace Mall, Tempe, AZ 85287-5904, United States
| | - Erin M Driver
- Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering, The Biodesign Institute, and School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Arizona State University, 781 E. Terrace Mall, Tempe, AZ 85287-5904, United States
| | - Joshua C Steele
- Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering, The Biodesign Institute, and School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Arizona State University, 781 E. Terrace Mall, Tempe, AZ 85287-5904, United States
| | - Rolf U Halden
- Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering, The Biodesign Institute, and School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Arizona State University, 781 E. Terrace Mall, Tempe, AZ 85287-5904, United States.
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32
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Choi PM, Tscharke BJ, Donner E, O'Brien JW, Grant SC, Kaserzon SL, Mackie R, O'Malley E, Crosbie ND, Thomas KV, Mueller JF. Wastewater-based epidemiology biomarkers: Past, present and future. Trends Analyt Chem 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.trac.2018.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 221] [Impact Index Per Article: 36.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
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Gao J, Li J, Jiang G, Yuan Z, Eaglesham G, Covaci A, Mueller JF, Thai PK. Stability of alcohol and tobacco consumption biomarkers in a real rising main sewer. WATER RESEARCH 2018; 138:19-26. [PMID: 29571085 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2018.03.036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2017] [Revised: 03/02/2018] [Accepted: 03/13/2018] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Since alcohol and tobacco consumption are among the leading causes of population health harm, it is very important to understand the consumption behaviour to develop effective harm reduction strategies. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is a potential tool for estimating their consumption, but there are several uncertainties that need to be determined, including the stability of biomarkers in the sewer. Utilizing a real rising main sewer, this study investigated the stability of alcohol and tobacco consumption biomarkers. Rhodamine and acesulfame were used as flow tracer and benchmarker to understand the transportation of wastewater in the sewer with a hydraulic retention time between 2.7 and 5.0 h. Ethyl sulphate (EtS) and ethyl glucuronide (EtG), two biomarkers of alcohol consumption, were found to have different in-sewer stability, with EtS much more stable than EtG. The degradation rate of EtS is approximately 8% per hour, while EtG has a half-life of 1.9 h. Formation of nicotine, cotinine and trans-3'-hydroxycotinine, three biomarkers for tobacco consumption, was observed during the experiment, probably due to deconjugation of their glucuronide chemicals. The deconjugation process has prevented the determination of actual stability of the three chemicals. However, it is suggested that cotinine is relatively stable, while nicotine and trans-3'-hydroxycotinine degrade to a certain degree in the sewer system. According to our findings, the in-sewer degradation is more important during the interpretation of alcohol consumption estimation than for tobacco consumption estimation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianfa Gao
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4108, Australia
| | - Jiaying Li
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Guangming Jiang
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Zhiguo Yuan
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Geoff Eaglesham
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4108, Australia
| | - Adrian Covaci
- Toxicological Centre, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Jochen F Mueller
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4108, Australia
| | - Phong K Thai
- International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD 4001, Australia.
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Archer E, Castrignanò E, Kasprzyk-Hordern B, Wolfaardt GM. Wastewater-based epidemiology and enantiomeric profiling for drugs of abuse in South African wastewaters. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2018; 625:792-800. [PMID: 29306167 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.12.269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2017] [Revised: 12/18/2017] [Accepted: 12/22/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
The current study is aimed to introduce a wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) approach for the first time on the African continent where substance abuse data is limited. The study included the quantification of several drugs of abuse (DOA) in raw wastewater samples. Quantification of urinary metabolites as drug target residues (DTR), as well as enantiomeric profiling of chiral DOA was performed to distinguish between consumption and direct disposal into sewage. Monitoring campaigns were undertaken at two South African wastewater treatment works (WWTWs) located within two provinces of the country. The presence of non-racemic 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and methamphetamine, as well as the metabolite of cocaine, benzoylecgonine (BEG), confirmed their consumption within the areas investigated. Enantiomeric profiling further pointed to the abuse of methamphetamine as the primary DOA with use estimates calculated between 181.9 and 1184.8mg·day-1·1000inhabitants-1. Population-normalised mass loads for MDMA and cocaine confirmed their status as secondary DOA within the study sites. Use estimates for the new psychoactive substance (NPS) mephedrone were performed for one WWTW. The minor metabolite of heroin, O-6-monoacetylmorphine (O-6-MAM), was also detected at one WWTW and served as a qualitative indicator for heroin abuse within the area. These findings provide a novel comparison of the WBE approach in a developing-country with other global studies, with the aim to strengthen this approach as a tool to inform drug prevention strategies in countries where substance abuse data is limited due to financial constraints and lack of government structures to facilitate conventional monitoring.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Archer
- Department of Microbiology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7600, South Africa; Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7600, South Africa
| | - E Castrignanò
- Department of Chemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK
| | | | - G M Wolfaardt
- Department of Microbiology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7600, South Africa; Department of Chemistry and Biology, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON M5B 2K3, Canada.
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Li J, Gao J, Thai PK, Sun X, Mueller JF, Yuan Z, Jiang G. Stability of Illicit Drugs as Biomarkers in Sewers: From Lab to Reality. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2018; 52:1561-1570. [PMID: 29285935 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.7b05109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Systematic sampling and analysis of wastewater samples are increasingly adopted for estimating drug consumption in communities. An understanding of the in-sewer transportation and transformation of illicit drug biomarkers is critical for reducing the uncertainty of this evidence-based estimation method. In this study, biomarkers stability was investigated in lab-scale sewer reactors with typical sewer conditions. Kinetic models using the Bayesian statistics method were developed to simulate biomarkers transformation in reactors. Furthermore, a field-scale study was conducted in a real pressure sewer pipe with the systematical spiking and sampling of biomarkers and flow tracers. In-sewer degradation was observed for some spiked biomarkers over typical hydraulic retention time (i.e., a few hours). Results indicated that sewer biofilms prominently influenced biomarker stability with the retention time in wastewater. The fits between the measured and the simulated biomarkers transformation demonstrated that the lab-based model could be extended to estimate the changes of biomarkers in real sewers. Results also suggested that the variabilities of biotransformation and analytical accuracy are the two major contributors to the overall estimation uncertainty. Built upon many previous lab-scale studies, this study is one critical step forward in realizing wastewater-based epidemiology by extending biomarker stability investigations from laboratory reactors to real sewers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiaying Li
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland , St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Jianfa Gao
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland , Brisbane, Queensland 4108, Australia
| | - Phong K Thai
- International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health, Queensland University of Technology , Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia
| | - Xiaoyan Sun
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland , St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Jochen F Mueller
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland , Brisbane, Queensland 4108, Australia
| | - Zhiguo Yuan
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland , St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Guangming Jiang
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland , St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
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Gao J, Banks A, Li J, Jiang G, Lai FY, Mueller JF, Thai PK. Evaluation of in-sewer transformation of selected illicit drugs and pharmaceutical biomarkers. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2017; 609:1172-1181. [PMID: 28787791 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.07.231] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2017] [Revised: 07/26/2017] [Accepted: 07/26/2017] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is considered to be a useful tool for monitoring chemical consumption in the population. However, the lack of information on potential transformation of biomarkers in the sewer system can compromise the accuracy of the consumption estimation. The present study contributes to addressing this issue by investigating the in-sewer stability of biomarkers from a number of commonly used drugs using laboratory sewer reactors that can mimic different sewer conditions. A stable and an unstable chemical (carbamazepine and caffeine) were also used as benchmarking chemicals to reflect the chemical degradation potential in different sewer conditions. The results suggested that ketamine and norketamine were unstable in gravity and rising main sewers, ketamine was unstable in bulk liquid while norketamine was stable under the same condition. Similarly, mephedrone and methylone were unstable in sewer conditions with considerable deviation. Significant loss of buprenorphine, methadone, oxycodone and codeine was observed in the rising main sewer. Morphine and codeine glucuronide were found to be deconjugated from their glucuronides quickly in the presence of biofilms. This study indicates that it is important to evaluate the stability of biomarkers in the sewer system before using them in WBE for estimating consumption/exposure to reduce uncertainties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianfa Gao
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4108, Australia
| | - Andrew Banks
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4108, Australia
| | - Jiaying Li
- Advanced Water Management Center, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Guangming Jiang
- Advanced Water Management Center, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Foon Yin Lai
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4108, Australia; Toxicological Center, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Jochen F Mueller
- Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4108, Australia
| | - Phong K Thai
- International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD 4001, Australia.
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Mastroianni N, López-García E, Postigo C, Barceló D, López de Alda M. Five-year monitoring of 19 illicit and legal substances of abuse at the inlet of a wastewater treatment plant in Barcelona (NE Spain) and estimation of drug consumption patterns and trends. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2017; 609:916-926. [PMID: 28783904 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.07.126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2017] [Revised: 07/13/2017] [Accepted: 07/13/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Illicit and legal drugs of abuse, including alcohol, continue to be in the focus of many governmental national and international studies due to the important consequences of their consumption at both individual and social level. Estimation of drug use at the community level from the concentrations of the drugs themselves or their major metabolites measured in wastewater has become an increasingly accepted and extended tool, complementary to the methods traditionally used for this purpose. The present work describes the application of this approach, generally known as wastewater epidemiology, to investigate the latest drug consumption patterns and trends in the European city of Barcelona. To this end, a total of 19 selected drugs of abuse and metabolites were monitored at the inlet of one of the main wastewater treatment plants of Barcelona every day during one week in March between 2011 and 2015. Analysis of the selected drugs and metabolites in the wastewater samples was performed by means of two methodologies based on liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), and the concentrations obtained were translated into consumption data. In agreement with official records, alcohol, followed by cannabis, cocaine, amphetamine-like compounds, and methadone were the most consumed drugs. Alcohol, cannabis, and cocaine consumption were on average 18mL(14g)/day/inhabitant (>15), 38g/day/1000 inhabitants aging 15-64, and 2.4g/day/1000 inhabitants aging 15-64, respectively. As for drug use trends, consumption increased over the 5years monitored for all drugs, but for heroin and diazepam. Weekly profiles characterized by higher consumption over the weekend as compared to weekdays were observed only for alcohol, cocaine, and MDMA. Extrapolation of the data obtained for the area under study to the national Spanish territory yields consumption figures of 142t of illicit drugs per year and >2500 million euro turnover per year in the black market.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicola Mastroianni
- Water and Soil Quality Research Group, Department of Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA-CSIC), Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Ester López-García
- Water and Soil Quality Research Group, Department of Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA-CSIC), Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Cristina Postigo
- Water and Soil Quality Research Group, Department of Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA-CSIC), Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034 Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Damià Barceló
- Water and Soil Quality Research Group, Department of Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA-CSIC), Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034 Barcelona, Spain; Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Parc Científic i Tecnològic de la Universitat de Girona, Edifici H2O, Emili Grahit 101, 17003 Girona, Spain
| | - Miren López de Alda
- Water and Soil Quality Research Group, Department of Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA-CSIC), Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
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Du P, Zhou Z, Bai Y, Xu Z, Gao T, Fu X, Li X. Estimating heroin abuse in major Chinese cities through wastewater-based epidemiology. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2017; 605-606:158-165. [PMID: 28666170 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.05.262] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2017] [Revised: 05/26/2017] [Accepted: 05/29/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Heroin consumption in major cities across China was estimated for the first time via wastewater-based epidemiology. Influent and effluent wastewater samples were collected from 49 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in 24 major cities that cover all the geographic regions of the country. Concentrations of morphine, 6-acetylmorphine, and codeine were measured. Near complete removal of morphine by wastewater treatment processes was observed, whereas removal rates of codeine were slightly lower. Morphine loads were much higher than codeine loads at most WWTPs in China, a trend opposite to that in many European countries. In addition, morphine and codeine loads were strongly correlated at most WWTPs, indicating morphine and codeine in wastewater were predominantly from the same source, street heroin. At WWTPs in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, codeine loads were considerably higher than morphine loads, consistent with previous reports of codeine abuse (e.g., as cough syrup) among middle and high school students in Guangdong province. Heroin consumption was derived based on morphine loads and taking into account therapeutic use of morphine and codeine, as well as contribution of codeine and acetylcodeine in street heroin. Highest heroin consumption was observed in northwestern and southwestern China. The average heroin consumption of the sampled cities was 64.6±78.7mg/1000inh/d. The nation-wide average heroin consumption was much lower than that of methamphetamine, consistent with seizure data and numbers of registered heroin and methamphetamine users in China.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peng Du
- Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, 100871 Beijing, China
| | - Zilei Zhou
- Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, 100871 Beijing, China
| | - Ya Bai
- Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, 100871 Beijing, China
| | - Zeqiong Xu
- Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, 100871 Beijing, China
| | - Tingting Gao
- Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, 100871 Beijing, China
| | - Xiaofang Fu
- Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, 100871 Beijing, China
| | - Xiqing Li
- Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, 100871 Beijing, China.
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39
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Zheng QD, Lin JG, Pei W, Guo MX, Wang Z, Wang DG. Estimating nicotine consumption in eight cities using sewage epidemiology based on ammonia nitrogen equivalent population. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2017; 590-591:226-232. [PMID: 28259433 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.02.214] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2016] [Revised: 02/24/2017] [Accepted: 02/27/2017] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Sewage epidemiology is a real-time tool used to monitor tobacco consumption. In this study, we investigated the tobacco consumption in eight cities in Jilin province using sewage epidemiology. We collected influent wastewater samples from ten wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) that serve nearly four million people. Mean nicotine (NIC) loads ranged from 1.42 to 14.2mg/d/capita, whereas mean cotinine (COT) loads showed lower levels with 0.33 to 2.15mg/d/capita. Population size was estimated to provide an accurate and real-time population based on ammonia nitrogen (NH4-N) concentration in influent. To verify the NH4-N equivalent population, we compared these results with the corresponding population estimated based on the expert knowledge of the local WWTPs operators. Daily consumption of NIC was estimated to be approximately 2.39±1.47mg/d/capita. Monte Carlo simulation was used to analyze uncertainty and variability in the number of cigarettes consumed by smokers in the range of 9.8 to 31.4 per day with a median of 16.9. The data of tobacco consumption in this study coordinated strongly with a traditional survey on the consumption of tobacco in China, indicating sewage epidemiology with NH4-N equivalent population estimation may provide a suitable and useful tool for tobacco use monitoring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiu-Da Zheng
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Dalian Maritime University, 1 Linghai Road, Dalian, Liaoning 116023, China
| | - Jian-Guo Lin
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Dalian Maritime University, 1 Linghai Road, Dalian, Liaoning 116023, China
| | - Wei Pei
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Dalian Maritime University, 1 Linghai Road, Dalian, Liaoning 116023, China
| | - Ming-Xing Guo
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Dalian Maritime University, 1 Linghai Road, Dalian, Liaoning 116023, China
| | - Zhuang Wang
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology (AEET), School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, China
| | - De-Gao Wang
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Dalian Maritime University, 1 Linghai Road, Dalian, Liaoning 116023, China.
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