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Reeves A, Shaikh WA, Chakraborty S, Chaudhuri P, Biswas JK, Maity JP. Potential transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through microplastics in sewage: A wastewater-based epidemiological review. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2023; 334:122171. [PMID: 37437759 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122171] [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: 04/27/2023] [Revised: 06/24/2023] [Accepted: 07/08/2023] [Indexed: 07/14/2023]
Abstract
In light of the current COVID-19 pandemic caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2, there is an urgent need to identify and investigate the various pathways of transmission. In addition to contact and aerosol transmission of the virus, this review investigated the possibility of its transmission via microplastics found in sewage. Wastewater-based epidemiological studies on the virus have confirmed its presence and persistence in both influent sewage as well as treated ones. The hypothesis behind the study is that the huge amount of microplastics, especially Polyvinyl Chloride and Polyethylene particles released into the open waters from sewage can become a good substrate and vector for microbes, especially Polyvinyl Chloride and Polyethylene particles, imparting stability to microbes and aiding the "plastisphere" formation. A bibliometric analysis highlights the negligence of research toward plastispheres and their presence in sewage. The ubiquity of microplastics and their release along with the virus into the open waters increases the risk of viral plastispheres. These plastispheres may be ingested by aquatic organisms facilitating reverse zoonosis and the commercial organisms already reported with accumulating microplastics through the food chain poses a risk to human populations as well. Reliance of high population density areas on open waters served by untreated sewage in economically less developed countries might bring back viral transmission.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arijit Reeves
- Department of Environmental Science, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, West Bengal, 700019, India
| | - Wasim Akram Shaikh
- Department of Basic Sciences, School of Science and Technology, The Neotia University, Sarisha, South 24 Parganas, West Bengal, 743368, India
| | - Sukalyan Chakraborty
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Jharkhand, 835215, India.
| | - Punarbasu Chaudhuri
- Department of Environmental Science, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, West Bengal, 700019, India
| | - Jayanta Kumar Biswas
- Enviromicrobiology, Ecotoxicology and Ecotechnology Research Laboratory (3E-MicroToxTech Lab), Department of Ecological Studies, University of Kalyani, Kalyani, Nadia, 741235, West Bengal, India; International Centre for Ecological Engineering, University of Kalyani, Kalyani, 741235, West Bengal, India
| | - Jyoti Prakash Maity
- Environmental Science Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, School of Applied Sciences, KIIT Deemed to be University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, 751024, India.
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Palamar JJ, Rutherford C, Le A, Keyes KM. Seasonal Variation of Use of Common Psychedelics and Party Drugs Among Nightclub/Festival Attendees in New York City. J Psychoactive Drugs 2023:1-8. [PMID: 37605471 PMCID: PMC10879452 DOI: 10.1080/02791072.2023.2240322] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2023] [Accepted: 06/29/2023] [Indexed: 08/23/2023]
Abstract
Few epidemiological studies have focused on seasonal variation in the use of common psychedelics and party drugs among nightclub and festival attendees, typically those who attend electronic dance music (EDM) events. We sought to determine whether the use of different drug types varies seasonally within this population. Across 15 seasons from summer 2017 through fall 2022, we surveyed 3,935 adults entering randomly selected nightclubs and festivals in New York City regarding their past-month use of cocaine, MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, commonly known as ecstasy), lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), psilocybin (shrooms), and ketamine. Multivariable models were used to compare adjusted odds ratios for drug use within each season with the grand mean of combined seasons. Summer was associated with higher odds for use of LSD (aOR 2.72; 95% CI, 1.88-3.93) and psilocybin (aOR 1.65; CI, 1.12-2.43), independent of increases in psilocybin use over time (p < .001). A significant increase in use of ketamine (p = .014) and significant decreases in use of cocaine (p = .002) and ecstasy (p = .002) were found across time, but multivariable models did not detect seasonal variations. Summer is a risk factor for use of common psychedelics among people who attend EDM events. Therefore, the summer months may be the best time to disseminate information about harm reduction for psychedelic drug users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph J. Palamar
- New York University Grossman School of Medicine, Department of Population Health, 180 Madison Avenue, New York, NY
| | - Caroline Rutherford
- Columbia University, Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY
| | - Austin Le
- New York University Grossman School of Medicine, Department of Population Health, 180 Madison Avenue, New York, NY
- New York University College of Dentistry, New York, NY
| | - Katherine M. Keyes
- Columbia University, Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY
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3
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Moslah B, Smaoui O, Nouioui MA, Araoud M, Chaouali N, Laribi M, Amira D, Ben Salah N, Hedhili A. Sewage analysis as an alternative tool for assessing drug of abuse and new psychoactive substances in Tunisia. Forensic Sci Int 2023; 347:111672. [PMID: 37023613 DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2023.111672] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2022] [Revised: 03/26/2023] [Accepted: 03/28/2023] [Indexed: 03/31/2023]
Abstract
Many studies attest to the pollution of wastewaters by organic molecules including drug of abuse (DAs) residues and new psychoactive substances (NPS) at trace levels. The occurrence of these emerging micropollutants in influent wastewaters (IWW) from three Tunisian Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) was assessed. Influent wastewater composite samples (24 h) were collected over 7 consecutive days in November 2019. The determination and quantification of 11 drug of abuse or their metabolites was performed by the application of an optimized multi-residue method liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). MDMA, THC and the cocaine metabolite benzoyl ecgonine were the most detected substances across the three investigated sewage plants. A new wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) approach was applied in this study to estimate illicit drug consumption. This innovative approach was used to calculate and to assess collective drug consumption of illicit drug at a community level, based on the concentration of selected illicit substances and their major metabolites in influent wastewater. The average MDMA consumption found in the selected cities ranged between 35,8-1531,1 mg day- 1/1000 inhabitants and increased during the weekends. Cocaine consumption varied from 24.5 to 179.8 mg day- 1/1000 inhabitants. Complementary qualitative investigation of new psychoactive substances was monitored for the first time for an African country, examining the occurrence of 33 NPS in wastewaters samples. Out of 33 totals screened NPS across all sampling sites, 16 were tentatively identified with this approach. The 16 detected NPS covered most of the representative and used molecules of different NPS classes; including synthetic opioids, synthetic cathinones, amphetamines derivatives and synthetic cannabinoids.
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4
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Clark JR, Terwilliger A, Avadhanula V, Tisza M, Cormier J, Javornik-Cregeen S, Ross MC, Hoffman KL, Troisi C, Hanson B, Petrosino J, Balliew J, Piedra PA, Rios J, Deegan J, Bauer C, Wu F, Mena KD, Boerwinkle E, Maresso AW. Wastewater pandemic preparedness: Toward an end-to-end pathogen monitoring program. Front Public Health 2023; 11:1137881. [PMID: 37026145 PMCID: PMC10070845 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1137881] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2023] [Accepted: 02/09/2023] [Indexed: 04/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Molecular analysis of public wastewater has great potential as a harbinger for community health and health threats. Long-used to monitor the presence of enteric viruses, in particular polio, recent successes of wastewater as a reliable lead indicator for trends in SARS-CoV-2 levels and hospital admissions has generated optimism and emerging evidence that similar science can be applied to other pathogens of pandemic potential (PPPs), especially respiratory viruses and their variants of concern (VOC). However, there are substantial challenges associated with implementation of this ideal, namely that multiple and distinct fields of inquiry must be bridged and coordinated. These include engineering, molecular sciences, temporal-geospatial analytics, epidemiology and medical, and governmental and public health messaging, all of which present their own caveats. Here, we outline a framework for an integrated, state-wide, end-to-end human pathogen monitoring program using wastewater to track viral PPPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justin R. Clark
- TAILOR Labs, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Austen Terwilliger
- TAILOR Labs, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Vasanthi Avadhanula
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Michael Tisza
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
- Alkek Center for Metagenomics and Microbiome Research, CMMR, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Juwan Cormier
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
- Alkek Center for Metagenomics and Microbiome Research, CMMR, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Sara Javornik-Cregeen
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
- Alkek Center for Metagenomics and Microbiome Research, CMMR, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Matthew Clayton Ross
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
- Alkek Center for Metagenomics and Microbiome Research, CMMR, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Kristi Louise Hoffman
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
- Alkek Center for Metagenomics and Microbiome Research, CMMR, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Catherine Troisi
- UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, Houston, TX, United States
- Texas Epidemic Public Health Institute (TEPHI), UTHealth Houston, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Blake Hanson
- UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, Houston, TX, United States
- Texas Epidemic Public Health Institute (TEPHI), UTHealth Houston, Houston, TX, United States
- Center for Infectious Diseases, Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Joseph Petrosino
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
- Alkek Center for Metagenomics and Microbiome Research, CMMR, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - John Balliew
- El Paso Water Utility, El Paso, TX, United States
| | - Pedro A. Piedra
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
- Pediatrics Department, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Janelle Rios
- UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, Houston, TX, United States
- Texas Epidemic Public Health Institute (TEPHI), UTHealth Houston, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Jennifer Deegan
- Texas Epidemic Public Health Institute (TEPHI), UTHealth Houston, Houston, TX, United States
- The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Cici Bauer
- UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, Houston, TX, United States
- Texas Epidemic Public Health Institute (TEPHI), UTHealth Houston, Houston, TX, United States
- Department of Biostatistics and Data Science, UTHealth School of Public Health, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Fuqing Wu
- UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, Houston, TX, United States
- Texas Epidemic Public Health Institute (TEPHI), UTHealth Houston, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Kristina D. Mena
- UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, Houston, TX, United States
- Texas Epidemic Public Health Institute (TEPHI), UTHealth Houston, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Eric Boerwinkle
- UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, Houston, TX, United States
- Texas Epidemic Public Health Institute (TEPHI), UTHealth Houston, Houston, TX, United States
- Human Genetics Center, Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Anthony W. Maresso
- TAILOR Labs, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
- Anthony W. Maresso
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5
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Jin H, Yang D, Wu P, Zhao M. Environmental occurrence and ecological risks of psychoactive substances. ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL 2022; 158:106970. [PMID: 34753034 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2021.106970] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2021] [Revised: 10/28/2021] [Accepted: 11/01/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Psychoactive substances are ubiquitous in the environment at low concentrations, and tobacco, cannabis, etc. are all widely-existing examples. Given their potent biological activity, psychoactive substances are suspected to be harmful to the environment, and reports of their ecological risks are gradually increasing. Since the 1990s, the investigations into psychoactive substances have made remarkable progress, yet some research fields still need to be modernised. For example, the unification of standardised analytical methods as well as the supplementation of occurrence literature. In addition, a relatively lagging risk evaluation system caused by a lack of toxicity data is particularly in need of improvement. The purpose of this article is to develop a review of current research on psychoactive substances, including analytical methods, distribution in environmental compartments, and ecological risk assessment, as well as to point out deficiencies and development prospects and to offer motivation for enhancing the research level in this field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hangbiao Jin
- College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310032, PR China
| | - Dan Yang
- College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310032, PR China
| | - Pengfei Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Environmental and Biological Analysis, Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong SAR, PR China
| | - Meirong Zhao
- College of Environment, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310032, PR China.
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6
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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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7
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Moslah B, Hapeshi E, Jrad A, Fatta-Kassinos D, Hedhili A. Pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs in wastewater samples in north-eastern Tunisia. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2018; 25:18226-18241. [PMID: 28390021 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-017-8902-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2016] [Accepted: 03/20/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Pharmaceutically active substances (PhACs) and drugs of abuse (DAs) are two classes of contaminants of emerging concern that have attracted great concern and interest by the scientific community during the last two decades. Numerous studies have revealed their presence in treated urban wastewaters. This is mainly due to the fact that some compounds are not efficiently removed during wastewater treatment processes, and are thus able to reach the aquatic environment through wastewater discharge and reuse practices. The application of an optimized multi-residue method for the simultaneous confirmation and quantification of licit and illicit drugs has been investigated in influent and effluent wastewater samples from seven wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) located in north-eastern Tunisia. Analysis was performed through ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). Out of 12 pharmaceutical compounds analyzed, 11 of them were detected mainly in effluent wastewaters. In both matrices, antibiotics and β-blockers were the most detected groups. This suggests that these compounds show noticeable resistance against biological treatment in WWTPs. The estimated concentrations of antibiotics in effluents ranged from ca. 35 ng/L to 1.2 μg/L. However, all five studied illicit drugs were detected, mainly in influent wastewaters. Forensic investigation performed on people suspected to be drug abusers covering all Tunisian cities was conducted by monitoring an epidemiological study of human urine samples surveying rate of consumption for illicit drugs. Hence, these preliminary results confirmed the presence of illicit drugs in the influent wastewater samples. For example, quantification ranges for cocaine were found to be 25-450 ng/L in influent wastewater samples. Significant differences for cocaine consumption across the two sampling methods were observed. Consequently, we conclude that the analyses in wastewater are more reflective of the real levels of illicit drug consumption. Moreover, the cost for chromatographic analysis is lower than the screening test methods for human biological specimen, particularly staffing, which are likely to be much lower.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bilel Moslah
- Tunis International Center for Environmental Technologies CITET, Boulevard Leader Yassar Arafat, 1080, Tunis, Tunisia.
- Faculty of pharmacy, 5000, Monastir, Tunisia.
- Department of Toxicology, Laboratory of Environment and Toxicology LR12SP07, Urgent Medical Assistance Center (CAMU), 1089, Tunis, Tunisia.
| | - Evroula Hapeshi
- Nireas-International Water Research Center, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Amel Jrad
- Tunis International Center for Environmental Technologies CITET, Boulevard Leader Yassar Arafat, 1080, Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Despo Fatta-Kassinos
- Nireas-International Water Research Center, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Abderrazek Hedhili
- Faculty of pharmacy, 5000, Monastir, Tunisia
- Department of Toxicology, Laboratory of Environment and Toxicology LR12SP07, Urgent Medical Assistance Center (CAMU), 1089, Tunis, Tunisia
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Hernández F, Castiglioni S, Covaci A, de Voogt P, Emke E, Kasprzyk‐Hordern B, Ort C, Reid M, Sancho JV, Thomas KV, van Nuijs AL, Zuccato E, Bijlsma L. Mass spectrometric strategies for the investigation of biomarkers of illicit drug use in wastewater. MASS SPECTROMETRY REVIEWS 2018; 37:258-280. [PMID: 27750373 PMCID: PMC6191649 DOI: 10.1002/mas.21525] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2016] [Accepted: 09/30/2016] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
The analysis of illicit drugs in urban wastewater is the basis of wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE), and has received much scientific attention because the concentrations measured can be used as a new non-intrusive tool to provide evidence-based and real-time estimates of community-wide drug consumption. Moreover, WBE allows monitoring patterns and spatial and temporal trends of drug use. Although information and expertise from other disciplines is required to refine and effectively apply WBE, analytical chemistry is the fundamental driver in this field. The use of advanced analytical techniques, commonly based on combined chromatography-mass spectrometry, is mandatory because the very low analyte concentration and the complexity of samples (raw wastewater) make quantification and identification/confirmation of illicit drug biomarkers (IDBs) troublesome. We review the most-recent literature available (mostly from the last 5 years) on the determination of IDBs in wastewater with particular emphasis on the different analytical strategies applied. The predominance of liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry to quantify target IDBs and the essence to produce reliable and comparable results is illustrated. Accordingly, the importance to perform inter-laboratory exercises and the need to analyze appropriate quality controls in each sample sequence is highlighted. Other crucial steps in WBE, such as sample collection and sample pre-treatment, are briefly and carefully discussed. The article further focuses on the potential of high-resolution mass spectrometry. Different approaches for target and non-target analysis are discussed, and the interest to perform experiments under laboratory-controlled conditions, as a complementary tool to investigate related compounds (e.g., minor metabolites and/or transformation products in wastewater) is treated. The article ends up with the trends and future perspectives in this field from the authors' point of view. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Mass Spec Rev 37:258-280, 2018.
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Affiliation(s)
- Félix Hernández
- Research Institute for Pesticides and WaterUniversity Jaume ICastellónSpain
| | - Sara Castiglioni
- Department of Environmental Health SciencesIRCCS—Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario NegriMilanItaly
| | - Adrian Covaci
- Toxicological CenterUniversity of AntwerpAntwerpBelgium
| | - Pim de Voogt
- KWR Watercycle Research InstituteNieuwegeinthe Netherlands
- IBED—University of AmsterdamAmsterdamthe Netherlands
| | - Erik Emke
- KWR Watercycle Research InstituteNieuwegeinthe Netherlands
| | | | - Christoph Ort
- Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag)DübendorfSwitzerland
| | - Malcolm Reid
- Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA)OsloNorway
| | - Juan V. Sancho
- Research Institute for Pesticides and WaterUniversity Jaume ICastellónSpain
| | | | | | - Ettore Zuccato
- Department of Environmental Health SciencesIRCCS—Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario NegriMilanItaly
| | - Lubertus Bijlsma
- Research Institute for Pesticides and WaterUniversity Jaume ICastellónSpain
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9
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Yadav MK, Short MD, Aryal R, Gerber C, van den Akker B, Saint CP. Occurrence of illicit drugs in water and wastewater and their removal during wastewater treatment. WATER RESEARCH 2017; 124:713-727. [PMID: 28843086 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2017.07.068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2017] [Revised: 07/25/2017] [Accepted: 07/25/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
This review critically evaluates the types and concentrations of key illicit drugs (cocaine, amphetamines, cannabinoids, opioids and their metabolites) found in wastewater, surface water and drinking water sources worldwide and what is known on the effectiveness of wastewater treatment in removing such compounds. It is also important to amass information on the trends in specific drug use as well as the sources of such compounds that enter the environment and we review current international knowledge on this. There are regional differences in the types and quantities of illicit drug consumption and this is reflected in the quantities detected in water. Generally, the levels of illicit drugs in wastewater effluents are lower than in raw influent, indicating that the majority of compounds can be at least partially removed by conventional treatment processes such as activated sludge or trickling filters. However, the literature also indicates that it is too simplistic to assume non-detection equates to drug removal and/or mitigation of associated risks, as there is evidence that some compounds may avoid detection via inadequate sampling and/or analysis protocols, or through conversion to transformation products. Partitioning of drugs from the water to the solids fraction (sludge/biosolids) may also simply shift the potential risk burden to a different environmental compartment and the review found no information on drug stability and persistence in biosolids. Generally speaking, activated sludge-type processes appear to offer better removal efficacy across a range of substances, but the lack of detail in many studies makes it difficult to comment on the most effective process configurations and operations. There is also a paucity of information on the removal effectiveness of alternative treatment processes. Research is also required on natural removal processes in both water and sediments that may over time facilitate further removal of these compounds in receiving environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meena K Yadav
- Natural and Built Environments Research Centre, School of Natural and Built Environments, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA 5095, Australia.
| | - Michael D Short
- Natural and Built Environments Research Centre, School of Natural and Built Environments, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA 5095, Australia; Future Industries Institute, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA 5095, Australia.
| | - Rupak Aryal
- Natural and Built Environments Research Centre, School of Natural and Built Environments, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA 5095, Australia.
| | - Cobus Gerber
- School of Pharmacy and Medical Science, City East Campus, North Terrace, Playford Building, Level 4, Room 47, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.
| | - Ben van den Akker
- Natural and Built Environments Research Centre, School of Natural and Built Environments, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA 5095, Australia; Australian Water Quality Centre, SA Water, 250 Victoria Square, Adelaide SA 5000; GPO Box 1751, Adelaide SA 5001, Australia.
| | - Christopher P Saint
- Natural and Built Environments Research Centre, School of Natural and Built Environments, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA 5095, Australia; Future Industries Institute, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA 5095, Australia.
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10
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López-Doval JC, Montagner CC, de Alburquerque AF, Moschini-Carlos V, Umbuzeiro G, Pompêo M. Nutrients, emerging pollutants and pesticides in a tropical urban reservoir: Spatial distributions and risk assessment. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2017; 575:1307-1324. [PMID: 27745929 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.09.210] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2016] [Revised: 09/05/2016] [Accepted: 09/26/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Reservoirs located in urban areas suffer specific pressures related to human activities. Their monitoring, management, and protection requirements differ from reservoirs situated in non-urbanized areas. The objectives of this study were: (a) to determine the concentrations of select pesticides and emerging pollutants (EPs) present in an urban reservoir; (b) to describe their possible spatial distributions; and (c) to quantify the risks for aquatic life and safeguard drinking water supplies. For this purpose, the Guarapiranga reservoir was studied as an example of a multi-stressed urban reservoir in a tropical region. A total of 31 organic compounds (including pesticides, illicit drugs, pharmaceuticals, and endocrine disruptors) were analyzed twice over a period of one year, together with classical indicators of water quality. The physical and chemical data were treated using principal component analysis (PCA) to identify possible temporal or spatial patterns. Risk assessment was performed for biota and drinking water use, comparing maximum environmental concentrations (MECs) with the predicted no-effect concentrations (PNECs) or drinking water quality criteria (DWC), respectively. The results demonstrated the presence of pesticides and EPs, as well as pollution by high levels of nutrients and Chlorophyll a (Chl. a), during the study period. The nutrients and Trophic State Index (TSI) showed gradients in the reservoir and regional distributions, while the pesticides and EPs only clearly showed this pattern in the dry season. The concentrations and distributions of the pesticides and EPs therefore showed seasonality. These findings suggested that the two groups of pollutants (EPs+pesticides and nutrients) possessed different sources and behavior and were not always correlated in the reservoir studied. In the studied period, no risk was observed in raw water for drinking water use, but carbendazim, imidacloprid, and BPA showed risks for the biota in the reservoir.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julio C López-Doval
- Institute of Biosciences, Department of Ecology, University of São Paulo, Rua do Matão, Travessa 14, 321, Butantã, 05508-090 São Paulo, SP, Brazil; Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, University of Barcelona, Avinguda Diagonal, 643, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Cassiana C Montagner
- Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas, PO Box 6154, 13084-971 Campinas, SP, Brazil
| | | | - Viviane Moschini-Carlos
- São Paulo State University -UNESP, Environmental Sciences Program, Avenida Três de Março 511, 18087-180 Sorocaba, SP, Brazil
| | - Gisela Umbuzeiro
- Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas, PO Box 6154, 13084-971 Campinas, SP, Brazil
| | - Marcelo Pompêo
- Institute of Biosciences, Department of Ecology, University of São Paulo, Rua do Matão, Travessa 14, 321, Butantã, 05508-090 São Paulo, SP, Brazil
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11
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Bernot MJ, Becker JC, Doll J, Lauer TE. A national reconnaissance of trace organic compounds (TOCs) in United States lotic ecosystems. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2016; 572:422-433. [PMID: 27543946 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.08.060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2016] [Revised: 08/05/2016] [Accepted: 08/08/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
We collaborated with 26 groups from universities across the United States to sample 42 sites for 33 trace organic compounds (TOCs) in water and sediments of lotic ecosystems. Our goals were 1) to further develop a national database of TOC abundance in United States lotic ecosystems that can be a foundation for future research and management, and 2) to identify factors related to compound abundance. Trace organic compounds were found in 93% of water samples and 56% of sediment samples. Dissolved concentrations were 10-1000× higher relative to sediment concentrations. The ten most common compounds in water samples with detection frequency and maximum concentration were sucralose (87.5%, 12,000ng/L), caffeine (77.5%, 420ng/L), sulfamethoxazole (70%, 340ng/L), cotinine (65%, 130ng/L), venlafaxine (65%, 1800ng/L), carbamazepine (62.5%, 320ng/L), triclosan (55%, 6800ng/L), azithromycin (15%, 970ng/L), diphenylhydramine (40%, 350ng/L), and desvenlafaxine (35%, 4600ng/L). In sediment, the most common compounds were venlafaxine (32.5%, 19ng/g), diphenhydramine (25%, 41ng/g), azithromycin (15%, 11ng/g), fluoxetine (12.5%, 29ng/g) and sucralose (12.5%, 16ng/g). Refractory compounds such as sucralose may be good indicators of TOC contamination in lotic ecosystems, as there was a correlation between dissolved sucralose concentrations and with the total number of compounds detected in water. Discharge and human demographic (population size) characteristics were not good predictors of compound abundance in water samples. This study further confirms the ubiquity of TOCs in lotic ecosystems. Although concentrations measured rarely approached acute aquatic-life criteria, the chronic effects, bioaccumulative potential, or potential mixture effects of multiple compounds are relatively unknown.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melody J Bernot
- Department of Biology, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, United States.
| | - Jesse C Becker
- Department of Biology, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, United States
| | - Jason Doll
- Department of Biology, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, United States
| | - Thomas E Lauer
- Department of Biology, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, United States
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12
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Gatidou G, Kinyua J, van Nuijs ALN, Gracia-Lor E, Castiglioni S, Covaci A, Stasinakis AS. Drugs of abuse and alcohol consumption among different groups of population on the Greek Island of Lesvos through sewage-based epidemiology. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2016; 563-564:633-640. [PMID: 27236142 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.04.130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2015] [Revised: 04/17/2016] [Accepted: 04/18/2016] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
The occurrence of 22 drugs of abuse, their metabolites, and the alcohol metabolite ethyl sulphate was investigated in raw sewage samples collected during the non-touristic season from three sewage treatment plants (STPs), which serve different sizes and types of population in the Greek island of Lesvos. Using the sewage-based epidemiology approach, the consumption of these substances was estimated. Five target analytes, cocaine (COC), benzoylecgonine (BE), 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), 11-nor-9-carboxy-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC-COOH) and ethyl sulphate (EtS) were detected at concentrations above their limit of quantification, whereas the rest eighteen target compounds were not detected. THC-COOH was detected in most of the samples with concentrations ranging between <20 and 90ngL(-1), followed by EtS (range <1700-12,243ngL(-1)). COC, BE, and MDMA were present only in the STP that serves Mytilene (the main city of the island), at mean concentrations of 3.9ngL(-1) for COC (95% CI: 1.7-6.1), 9.4ngL(-1) for BE (95% CI: -1.6-23) and 3.2ngL(-1) for MDMA (95% CI: 1.2-5.1). Back-calculations to an amount of used substance indicated more intense use of drugs among city population than rural and University population with average values of 9.5 and 1.2mgday(-1) per 1000 inhabitants for COC (95% CI: -1.43-20.4) and MDMA (95% CI: 0.52-1.85), respectively, and 2.8gday(-1) per 1000 inhabitants for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) (95% CI: 2.4-3.1), the active ingredient of cannabis. Alcohol consumption was observed to be higher in the city population (5.4mL pure alcohol per day per inhabitant) than in the rural population (3.4mL pure alcohol per day per inhabitant), but the difference was not statistically significant. Consumption of THC differed significantly among the three STPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Georgia Gatidou
- Department of Environment, University of the Aegean, University Hill, Mytilene 81 100, Greece.
| | - Juliet Kinyua
- Toxicological Center, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Campus Drie Eiken, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Alexander L N van Nuijs
- Toxicological Center, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Campus Drie Eiken, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Emma Gracia-Lor
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, IRCCS - Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche "Mario Negri", 16 Via La Masa 19, 20156 Milan, Italy
| | - Sara Castiglioni
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, IRCCS - Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche "Mario Negri", 16 Via La Masa 19, 20156 Milan, Italy
| | - Adrian Covaci
- Toxicological Center, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Campus Drie Eiken, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Athanasios S Stasinakis
- Department of Environment, University of the Aegean, University Hill, Mytilene 81 100, Greece
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13
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Gay F, Ferrandino I, Monaco A, Cerulo M, Capasso G, Capaldo A. Histological and hormonal changes in the European eel (Anguilla anguilla) after exposure to environmental cocaine concentration. JOURNAL OF FISH DISEASES 2016; 39:295-308. [PMID: 25865023 DOI: 10.1111/jfd.12362] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2014] [Revised: 01/29/2015] [Accepted: 01/29/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
The aim of this study was the assessment of histological and hormonal changes induced in the European eel from environmental concentrations of cocaine. Silver eels were exposed to 20 ng L(-1) of cocaine during 50 days; at the same time, control, vehicle control and two post-exposure recovery groups (3 and 10 days) were made. The general morphology of the skin and the intestine, and the plasma levels of prolactin, cortisol and dopamine were evaluated. In the skin, cocaine decreased the number and size of mucous cells, increased the thickness of the epidermis and altered the club cells and the basal lamina. In the intestine, cocaine increased the thickness of the epithelium and the number of mucous cells and reactivated the structure of the intestine and of the intestinal musculature. Moreover, cocaine increased plasma prolactin, cortisol and dopamine levels. These results suggest that cocaine induced histological changes, directly and/or through the hormonal changes observed. Considering the complex life cycle of the eel, the changes induced by cocaine in the skin, the intestine and the endocrine system could threaten the ability of the eel to successfully migrate and reproduce.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Gay
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
- Department of Chemistry and Biology, University of Salerno, Salerno, Italy
| | - I Ferrandino
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
| | - A Monaco
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
| | - M Cerulo
- Department of Translational Medical Sciences, Pediatric Surgery, University Federico II, Naples, Naples, Italy
| | - G Capasso
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
| | - A Capaldo
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
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14
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Wieczerzak M, Kudłak B, Namieśnik J. Environmentally oriented models and methods for the evaluation of drug × drug interaction effects. Crit Rev Anal Chem 2016; 45:131-55. [PMID: 25558775 DOI: 10.1080/10408347.2014.899467] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
This detailed review compares known and widely used methods for drug interaction estimation, some of which now have historical significance. Pharmaceutical application has been noted as far back as several thousand years ago. Relatively late in the 20th century, however, researchers became aware that their fate and metabolism, which still remain a great challenge for environmental analysts and risk assessors. For the patient's well-being, treatment based on the mixing of drugs has to be effective and should not cause any side effects (or side effects should not have a significant impact on health and mortality). Therefore, it is important to carefully examine drugs both individually and in combinations. It should be also stated that application form/way of entering the living organism is of great importance as well as the age and the place in the trophic system of the organism in order to eliminate harmful dosages in the case of infants' accidental intoxication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monika Wieczerzak
- a Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry , Gdańsk University of Technology , Gdańsk , Poland
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15
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Abstract
Background: Viral hepatitis is an infection that has been reported to be present throughout the year, but some particular months are associated with higher incidences. The primary objective was to review and report on the current knowledge and evidence that existed on seasonality of different type of acute viral hepatitis worldwide in order to develop recommendations for future research, prevention and control. Materials and Methods: A systematic literature review was performed to identify all the primary reports and studies published during 1970-2013 on acute hepatitis A, B, C and E (AHA, AHB, AHC and AHE) in human subjects by searching PubMed, reference lists of major articles and correspondence with scientific experts. For each report or study included, the following information was extracted (as applicable to study): Location (country and setting), study population (number of cases, patients), seasonal or monthly rate and study duration. Results: There is no definite and consistent seasonal pattern has been observed on AHA; AHB; AHE and AHC, although evidence points towards spring and summer peak for hepatitis A, B, C and E. Multiple source of transmission such as; summer travel to an endemic area, swimming habits of the population in hot months, increase sexual contact, tattoo, poor hygiene and environmental sanitation and food habits (feco-oral transmission of viral hepatitis) probably exists and should be further investigated through analytical and epidemiological.
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Affiliation(s)
- Auda Fares
- Albert-Schlangen, Str.36 Bedburg-Germany
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16
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The role of alkylsilyl derivatization techniques in the analysis of illicit drugs by gas chromatography. Microchem J 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/j.microc.2014.08.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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17
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Mendoza A, Rodríguez-Gil JL, González-Alonso S, Mastroianni N, López de Alda M, Barceló D, Valcárcel Y. Drugs of abuse and benzodiazepines in the Madrid Region (Central Spain): seasonal variation in river waters, occurrence in tap water and potential environmental and human risk. ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL 2014; 70:76-87. [PMID: 24908641 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2014.05.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2014] [Revised: 05/01/2014] [Accepted: 05/12/2014] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
This work analyzes the seasonal variation (winter and summer) of ten drugs of abuse, six metabolites and three benzodiazepines in surface waters from the Jarama and Manzanares Rivers in the Madrid Region, the most densely populated area in Spain. The occurrence of these compounds in tap water in this region is also investigated and a preliminary human health risk characterization performed for those substances found in tap water. Finally, a screening level risk assessment that combines the measured environmental concentrations (MECs) with dose-response data to estimate Hazard Quotients (HQs) for the compounds studied is also presented. The results of this study show the presence of fourteen out of the nineteen compounds analyzed in winter and twelve of them in summer. The most ubiquitous compounds, with a frequency of detection of 100% in both seasons, were the cocaine metabolite benzoylecgonine (BE), the amphetamine-type stimulant (ATS) ephedrine (EPH), the opioid methadone (METH), the METH metabolite 2-ethylene-1,5-dimethyl-3,3-diphenylpyrrolidine (EDDP), and the three benzodiazepines investigated, namely alprazolam (ALP), diazepam (DIA) and lorazepam (LOR). The highest concentrations observed corresponded to EPH (1020ngL(-1) in winter and 250ngL(-1) in summer). The only compounds not detected in both seasons were heroin (HER) and its metabolite 6-acetylmorphine (6ACM), lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and its metabolite 2-oxo-3-hydroxy-LSD (O-H-LSD), and Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). In terms of overall concentration, all sampling points presented higher concentrations in winter than in summer. Statistical analyses performed to gather evidence concerning occasional seasonal differences in the concentrations of individual substances between summer and winter showed statistically significantly higher concentrations (p<0.05) of BE, EPH and the opioid morphine (MOR) in winter than in summer. Two out of the nineteen compounds studied, namely cocaine (CO) and EPH, were detected in tap water from one sampling point at concentrations of 1.61 and 0.29ngL(-1), respectively. The preliminary human health risk characterization showed that no toxic effects could be expected at the detected concentration level in tap water. The screening level risk assessment showed that MOR, EDDP and the THC metabolite 11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC-COOH) were present in at least one of the sampling sites in a concentration leading to a Hazard Quotient (HQ) value between 1.0 and 10.0, thus indicating some possible adverse effects. The cumulative HQ or Toxic units (TUs) calculated for each of the groups studied showed that opioids and cannabinoids were present at concentrations high enough to potentially generate some adverse effects on at least one sampling point.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Mendoza
- Research Group in Environmental Health and Eco-Toxicology (ToxAmb), Rey Juan Carlos University, Avda. Tulipán, s/n, 28933 Móstoles, Madrid, Spain.
| | - J L Rodríguez-Gil
- Research Group in Environmental Health and Eco-Toxicology (ToxAmb), Rey Juan Carlos University, Avda. Tulipán, s/n, 28933 Móstoles, Madrid, Spain; Centre for Toxicology, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G2W1, Canada
| | - S González-Alonso
- Research Group in Environmental Health and Eco-Toxicology (ToxAmb), Rey Juan Carlos University, Avda. Tulipán, s/n, 28933 Móstoles, Madrid, Spain
| | - N 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
| | - M 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
| | - D 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), H(2)O Building, Scientific and Technological Park of the University of Girona, Emili Grahit 101, 17003 Girona, Spain
| | - Y Valcárcel
- Research Group in Environmental Health and Eco-Toxicology (ToxAmb), Rey Juan Carlos University, Avda. Tulipán, s/n, 28933 Móstoles, Madrid, Spain; Department of Preventive Medicine, Public Health, Immunology and Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Rey Juan Carlos University, Avda. Atenas, s/n, 28922 Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain.
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18
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Damien DA, Thomas N, Hélène P, Sara K, Yves L. First evaluation of illicit and licit drug consumption based on wastewater analysis in Fort de France urban area (Martinique, Caribbean), a transit area for drug smuggling. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2014; 490:970-978. [PMID: 24914526 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.05.090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2014] [Revised: 05/21/2014] [Accepted: 05/21/2014] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Drugs of abuse are increasingly consumed worldwide. Such consumption could be back-calculated based on wastewater content. The West Indies, with its coca production and its thriving illicit drug market, is both a hub of world cocaine trafficking and a place where its consumption is prevalent particularly in the form of crack. The present study will firstly investigate Caribbean consumption by a daily 5 to 7 day sampling campaign of composite wastewater samples from the four wastewater treatment plants of the Martinique capital, including working and non-working periods. The local consumption of cocaine is ten to thirty times higher than OECD standards because of the prevalence of crack. The excretion coefficient for crack consumption and the impact of temperature on drug stability need further investigation. However, the low diversity of illicit drugs consumed and the crack prevalence suggest practices driven by the transiting of drugs for international trafficking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Devault A Damien
- Université des Antilles et de la Guyane, EA 929 AIHP-GEODE, groupe Biospheres, Campus de Schœlcher, Schœlcher Cedex, France.
| | - Néfau Thomas
- Univ. Paris Sud, Faculté de Pharmacie, UMR 8079, CNRS, AgroParisTech, France
| | - Pascaline Hélène
- Université des Antilles et de la Guyane, EA 929 AIHP-GEODE, groupe Biospheres, Campus de Schœlcher, Schœlcher Cedex, France
| | - Karolak Sara
- Univ. Paris Sud, Faculté de Pharmacie, UMR 8079, CNRS, AgroParisTech, France
| | - Levi Yves
- Univ. Paris Sud, Faculté de Pharmacie, UMR 8079, CNRS, AgroParisTech, France
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19
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Khan U, van Nuijs ALN, Li J, Maho W, Du P, Li K, Hou L, Zhang J, Meng X, Li X, Covaci A. Application of a sewage-based approach to assess the use of ten illicit drugs in four Chinese megacities. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2014; 487:710-21. [PMID: 24485909 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.01.043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2013] [Revised: 01/12/2014] [Accepted: 01/12/2014] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
Sewage-based epidemiology was applied for the first time to a number of mainland Chinese megacities. The application monitored influents to 9 sewage treatment plants (STPs) to estimate the use of illicit drugs in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Shanghai. Altogether, 11.4 million inhabitants were covered during September-October 2012. 24-h composite raw sewage samples were collected for 4 consecutive days at each STP. Each collected sample was analyzed for cocaine, benzoylecgonine, ecgonine methylester, methadone, 2-ethylidene-1,5-dimethyl-3,3-diphenylpyrrolidine, 6-monoacetylmorphine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, ecstasy, mephedrone, methylenedioxypyrovalerone, 11-nor-9-carboxy-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, ketamine, and norketamine. Through the analysis of these chemical residues, the use of amphetamine, cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy, heroin, mephedrone, methadone, methamphetamine, methylenedioxypyrovalerone and ketamine among Chinese urban inhabitants was monitored. The results obtained demonstrated in a quantitative way that the drug use patterns of Chinese are different from their European counterparts. Abuse of methamphetamine and ketamine was particularly noteworthy in China, while consumption of cocaine and ecstasy, the most popular drugs in Europe, was very low among the sampled Chinese inhabitants. Further, the use of most drugs demonstrated a geographical trend, since their use was much higher in the southern cities of Shenzhen and Guangzhou than it was in Beijing and Shanghai. Interestingly, the exclusive, but minor, metabolite of heroin, 6-monoacetylmorphine, was detected only sporadically. This would suggest that the use of heroin among Chinese urban users sampled in the study was low. Further, the patterns of drug use observed during the study are largely consistent with trends reported by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Overall, our study suggests that sewage-based epidemiology can readily be used to monitor the use of illicit drugs in those countries/regions where traditional means to monitor drug use patterns have only yielded limited or information of questionable reliability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Usman Khan
- Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China; Department of Civil Engineering & Applied Mechanics, McGill University, Montreal, Canada; AMEC Environment and Infrastructure, Montreal, Canada
| | | | - Jing Li
- Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China; Department of Civil Engineering & Applied Mechanics, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| | - Walid Maho
- Toxicological Centre, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Peng Du
- Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Kaiyang Li
- Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Linlin Hou
- Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Jiying Zhang
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
| | - Xiangzhou Meng
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
| | - Xiqing Li
- Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.
| | - Adrian Covaci
- Toxicological Centre, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
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20
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Baker DR, Barron L, Kasprzyk-Hordern B. Illicit and pharmaceutical drug consumption estimated via wastewater analysis. Part A: chemical analysis and drug use estimates. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2014; 487:629-41. [PMID: 24377678 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.11.107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 128] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2013] [Revised: 11/19/2013] [Accepted: 11/21/2013] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
This paper presents, for the first time, community-wide estimation of drug and pharmaceuticals consumption in England using wastewater analysis and a large number of compounds. Among groups of compounds studied were: stimulants, hallucinogens and their metabolites, opioids, morphine derivatives, benzodiazepines, antidepressants and others. Obtained results showed the usefulness of wastewater analysis in order to provide estimates of local community drug consumption. It is noticeable that where target compounds could be compared to NHS prescription statistics, good comparisons were apparent between the two sets of data. These compounds include oxycodone, dihydrocodeine, methadone, tramadol, temazepam and diazepam. Whereas, discrepancies were observed for propoxyphene, codeine, dosulepin and venlafaxine (over-estimations in each case except codeine). Potential reasons for discrepancies include: sales of drugs sold without prescription and not included within NHS data, abuse of a drug with the compound trafficked through illegal sources, different consumption patterns in different areas, direct disposal leading to over estimations when using parent compound as the drug target residue and excretion factors not being representative of the local community. It is noticeable that using a metabolite (and not a parent drug) as a biomarker leads to higher certainty of obtained estimates. With regard to illicit drugs, consistent and logical results were reported. Monitoring of these compounds over a one week period highlighted the expected recreational use of many of these drugs (e.g. cocaine and MDMA) and the more consistent use of others (e.g. methadone).
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Affiliation(s)
- David R Baker
- Mass Spectrometry Business Unit, Shimadzu, Wharfside, Manchester M17 1GP, UK
| | - Leon Barron
- Analytical & Environmental Sciences Division, King's College London, 150 Stamford St., London SE1 9NH, UK
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21
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Emke E, Evans S, Kasprzyk-Hordern B, de Voogt P. Enantiomer profiling of high loads of amphetamine and MDMA in communal sewage: a Dutch perspective. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2014; 487:666-72. [PMID: 24290437 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.11.043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2013] [Revised: 11/05/2013] [Accepted: 11/07/2013] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Analysis of wastewater with an aim of community-wide estimation of drug use is a new and very promising approach. Until now it was very difficult to determine if mass loads of studied drugs were actually originating from consumption, or disposal of unused drugs or production waste. This uncertainty in the estimation of community wide drugs use should not be underestimated. This paper aims to apply for the first time enantiomeric profiling in verifying sources of the presence of MDMA and amphetamine in wastewater based on a case study in two Dutch cities: Utrecht and Eindhoven. The results showed that MDMA is usually present in wastewater due to its consumption (MDMA enriched with R(-)-enantiomer). Excessively high mass loads of MDMA during a sampling campaign in Utrecht in 2011 proved to be racemic indicating direct disposal of unused MDMA possibly as a result of a police raid at a nearby illegal production facility. Enantiomeric profiling was also undertaken in order to verify the origin of unexpectedly high mass loads of amphetamine in the city of Eindhoven in 2011. Unfortunately, a distinction between consumption and direct disposal of unused amphetamine in Dutch wastewater could not be achieved. Further work will have to be undertaken to fully understand sources of amphetamine in Dutch wastewaters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erik Emke
- KWR Watercycle Research Institute, Chemical Water Quality and Health, P.O. Box 1072, 3430 BB Nieuwegein, The Netherlands.
| | - Sian Evans
- University of Bath, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Bath BA2 7AY, UK
| | | | - Pim de Voogt
- KWR Watercycle Research Institute, Chemical Water Quality and Health, P.O. Box 1072, 3430 BB Nieuwegein, The Netherlands; Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, P.O. Box 94248, 1090 GE Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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Rodayan A, Majewsky M, Yargeau V. Impact of approach used to determine removal levels of drugs of abuse during wastewater treatment. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2014; 487:731-9. [PMID: 24726517 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.03.080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2014] [Revised: 03/03/2014] [Accepted: 03/07/2014] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
In this study the levels of 19 drugs of abuse were estimated throughout a wastewater treatment plant using polar organic chemical integrative samplers (POCIS), 24h composite samples and grab samples. Overall removal efficiencies and removals in between each treatment unit were calculated using load data for each sampling technique as well as removals that take into account the hydraulic residence time distribution of the treatment plant (time-shifted mass balancing approach). Amphetamine-type stimulants, cocaine and its major metabolite, benzoylecgonine and opioid levels determined with 24h composite samples were generally comparable to those obtained with POCIS and grab samples. Negative mass balances resulting from the estimation of overall removal efficiencies by POCIS, day-to-day mass balancing of 24h composite and grab sample data did not occur when the hydraulic retention time (HRT) distributions of the plant were taken into account for calculation. Among the compounds investigated, cocaine exhibited the highest overall removal (90%) while codeine had the lowest with 13%, respectively. Sampling between the treatment units revealed that highest removal occurs during biological treatment as compared to primary or secondary clarification. Methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), fentanyl, dihydrocodeine and heroin were not detected in wastewater at any of the sampling locations at the treatment plant regardless of the sampling technique. The study demonstrates the benefits of applying the time-shifted mass balancing approach to the calculation of removals of drugs of abuse during wastewater treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angela Rodayan
- Department of Chemical Engineering, McGill University, 3610 University St., Montreal, QC J3N 1V3, Canada
| | - Marius Majewsky
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Engler-Bunte-Institut, Chair of Water Chemistry and Water Technology, Engler-Bunte-Ring 1, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
| | - Viviane Yargeau
- Department of Chemical Engineering, McGill University, 3610 University St., Montreal, QC J3N 1V3, Canada.
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Meffe R, de Bustamante I. Emerging organic contaminants in surface water and groundwater: a first overview of the situation in Italy. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2014; 481:280-95. [PMID: 24602913 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.02.053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 212] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2013] [Revised: 02/06/2014] [Accepted: 02/11/2014] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
This paper provides the first review of the occurrence of 161 emerging organic compounds (EOCs) in Italian surface water and groundwater. The reported EOCs belong to the groups of industrials, pharmaceuticals, estrogens and illicit drugs. Occurrence of 137 pesticides was also reported. The reviewed research works have been published between 1997 and 2013. The majority of the studies have been carried out in Northern Italy (n. 30) and to a lower extent in Central Italy (n. 13). Only a limited number of research studies report EOC concentrations in water resources of Southern Italy. The EOCs that have been more frequently studied are in the following descending order, pesticides (16), pharmaceuticals (15), industrials (13), estrogens (7) and illicit drugs (2). Research activities investigating the EOC occurrence in surface water are more numerous than those in groundwater. This is consistent with the higher complexity involved in groundwater sampling and EOC detection. Among the reported EOCs, industrials and pesticides are those occurring in both surface water and groundwater with the highest concentrations (up to 15 × 10(6) and 4.78 × 0(5)ng L(-1), respectively). Concentrations of pharmaceuticals in surface water reach a maximum of 3.59 × 10(3)ng L(-1), whereas only the antimicrobial agent josamycin has been encountered in groundwater with a concentration higher than 100 ng L(-1). Both estrogens and illicit drugs appeared in surface water with concentrations lower than 50 ng L(-1). Groundwater concentrations for estrogens were measured to be below the detection limits, whereas illicit drugs have so far not been studied in groundwater. The present review reveals the serious contamination status of Italian surface water and groundwater especially by pesticides, industrials and to a lower extent by pharmaceuticals and the necessity to foster the research on EOC occurrence in Italian water resources, in particular in Southern Italy where a limited number of investigations currently exist.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raffaella Meffe
- IMDEA Agua, Madrid Institute for Advanced Studies in Water, Parque Científico Tecnológico de la Universidad de Alcalá, 28805 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain.
| | - Irene de Bustamante
- IMDEA Agua, Madrid Institute for Advanced Studies in Water, Parque Científico Tecnológico de la Universidad de Alcalá, 28805 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain; University of Alcalá, Geography and Geology Department, 28871 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain
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Morelato M, Baechler S, Ribaux O, Beavis A, Tahtouh M, Kirkbride P, Roux C, Margot P. Forensic intelligence framework—Part I: Induction of a transversal model by comparing illicit drugs and false identity documents monitoring. Forensic Sci Int 2014; 236:181-90. [DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2013.12.045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2013] [Revised: 12/04/2013] [Accepted: 12/15/2013] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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Ort C, Eppler JM, Scheidegger A, Rieckermann J, Kinzig M, Sörgel F. Challenges of surveying wastewater drug loads of small populations and generalizable aspects on optimizing monitoring design. Addiction 2014; 109:472-81. [PMID: 24325468 DOI: 10.1111/add.12405] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2013] [Revised: 08/14/2013] [Accepted: 10/25/2013] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
AIMS Quantifying illicit drug loads through wastewater analysis (WWA) is an alternative approach to estimating population drug use. This study investigated the variability of daily drug loads in wastewater and their relationships to environmental factors over an extended period to: (i) explore the suitability of WWA in small populations and (ii) optimize the monitoring design for future studies. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS Daily wastewater samples (n = 1369 consecutive days) from a German village with approximately 7160 inhabitants. MEASUREMENTS Samples were analysed for cocaine and benzoylecgonine with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Time-series analysis was used to explore the effects of weather and other factors on daily cocaine loads. Subsampling was used to assess monitoring design. FINDINGS Cocaine loads [mean = 652 mgCOC /day, standard deviation (SD) = 498 mgCOC /day] increased over the study period, with higher values during winter and spring. Despite high day-to-day variation, loads were significantly higher during weekends [+161 mgCOC /day, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 115-207 mgCOC /day, P < 10(-4) ] and days with frost (+114 mgCOC /day, 95% CI = 6-223 mgCOC /day, P = 0.039) or snow (+150 mgCOC /day, 95% CI = 46-253 mgCOC /day, P = 0.005). Annual means estimated from 1-week periods were subject to approximately 60% relative error. Increasing sample size and changing sampling from consecutive days to stratified random decreased this uncertainty. CONCLUSIONS Day-to-day variation and seasonality of drug loads from the few long-term wastewater studies available to date suggest that up to 56 stratified random samples are required to obtain reliable (expected uncertainty around 10%) annual estimates of drug loads. Successfully assessing changes in consumption patterns or relationships to external factors requires larger sample sizes than estimating annual means, which holds true for high-prevalence drugs in small communities and low-prevalence drugs in big cities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christoph Ort
- Urban Water Management, Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Dübendorf, Switzerland
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26
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Maddaloni M, Castiglioni S, Zuccato E, Gay F, Capaldo A, Laforgia V, Valiante S, Falco MD, Guida M. Presence of Illicit Drugs in the Sarno River (Campania Region, Italy). ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2014. [DOI: 10.4236/pp.2014.57085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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Pal R, Megharaj M, Kirkbride KP, Naidu R. Illicit drugs and the environment--a review. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2013; 463-464:1079-1092. [PMID: 22726813 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.05.086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2012] [Revised: 05/28/2012] [Accepted: 05/28/2012] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Illicit drugs and their metabolites are the latest group of emerging pollutants. Determination of their concentration in environment (such as water bodies, soil, sediment, air) is an indirect tool to estimate the community level consumption of illicit drug and to evaluate potential ecotoxicological impacts from chronic low level exposure. They enter the wastewater network as unaltered drugs and/or their active metabolites by human excretion after illegal consumption or by accidental or deliberate disposal from clandestine drug laboratories. This article critically reviews the occurrence and concentration levels of illicit drugs and their metabolites in different environmental compartments (e.g., wastewater, surface waters, groundwater, drinking water, and ambient air) and their potential impact on the ecosystem. There is limited published information available on the presence of illicit drugs in the environment, reports are available mainly from European countries, UK, USA, and Canada but there is a lack of information from the remainder of the world. Although the environmental concentrations are not very high, they can potentially impact the human health and ecosystem functioning. Cocaine, morphine, amphetamine, and MDMA have potent pharmacological activities and their presence as complex mixtures in water may cause adverse effect on aquatic organisms and human health. However, there is no current regulation demanding the determination of occurrence of these emerging pollutants in treated wastewater, surface water, drinking water, or atmosphere. Thus, critical investigation on distribution pattern of this new group of emerging contaminant and their potential harmful impact on our environment needs immediate attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raktim Pal
- Centre for Environmental Risk Assessment and Remediation, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, Adelaide, South Australia 5095, Australia; CRC for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment, University of South Australia, Australia
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Repice C, Dal Grande M, Maggi R, Pedrazzani R. Licit and illicit drugs in a wastewater treatment plant in Verona, Italy. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2013; 463-464:27-34. [PMID: 23777670 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.05.045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2013] [Revised: 05/12/2013] [Accepted: 05/16/2013] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
The occurrence of 12 active substances among licit and illicit drugs was investigated over a 2 week period inflowing and outflowing in an activated sludge wastewater treatment plant in the city of Verona, Northern Italy. Chemical analyses were performed by means of on-line solid phase extraction coupled to high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in order to minimize sample pre-treatment. Quantifiable concentrations, up to hundreds of ng/L, were detected in influent and in effluent only for carbamazepine, codeine and benzoylecgonine. Such values are in accordance with literature data, so as removal efficiencies: it was observed that there was pretty much no abatement for carbamazepine, while average removal percentages of about 60% and 90% were calculated for codeine and benzoylecgonine, respectively. These results provide useful information (also concerning some active principles never or rarely detected, up to now, such as lormetazepam) for integrated water cycle managing, also taking into account the specific characteristics of the receiving water basin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carla Repice
- Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Brescia, Via Branze, 38, 25123 Brescia, Italy
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29
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Nefau T, Karolak S, Castillo L, Boireau V, Levi Y. Presence of illicit drugs and metabolites in influents and effluents of 25 sewage water treatment plants and map of drug consumption in France. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2013; 461-462:712-722. [PMID: 23770552 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.05.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2013] [Revised: 05/13/2013] [Accepted: 05/14/2013] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Consumption of illicit drugs is a new concern for water management that must be considered not only because of the social and public health aspects but also in an environmental context in relation with the contamination of surface waters. Indeed, sewage treatment plant (STP) effluents contain drug residues that have not been eliminated since STP treatments are not completely efficient in their removal. We developed and validated an HPLC-MS/MS analytical method to assess the concentrations of 17 illicit drugs and metabolites in raw urban wastewaters: cocaine and its metabolites, amphetamine and amphetamine-likes (methamphetamine, MDMA, MDEA, MDA), opiates and opiate substitutes (methadone and buprenorphine), and THC-COOH cannabis metabolite. This method has been applied to the analysis of influent and effluent samples from 25 STPs located in France all over the country. The results allowed evaluating the drug consumption in the areas connected to the STPs and the efficiency of the treatment technology implied. We selected STPs according to their volume capacity, their treatment technologies (biofilters, activated sludges, MBR) and their geographical location. In influents, the concentrations varied between 6 ng/L for EDDP (main metabolite of methadone) and 3050 ng/L for benzoylecgonine (cocaine metabolite). Consumption maps were drawn for cocaine, MDMA, opiates, cannabis and amphetamine-like compounds. Geographical significant differences were observed and highlighted the fact that drug consumption inside a country is not homogeneous. In parallel, comparisons between STP technology processes showed differences of efficiency. More, some compounds appear very resistant to STP processes leading to the contamination of receiving water.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Nefau
- Univ. Paris Sud/UMR CNRS 8079, Public Health & Environment Group, France.
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30
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García-Cambero JP, Catalá M, Valcárcel Y. River waters induced neurotoxicity in an embryo-larval zebrafish model. ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY 2012; 84:84-91. [PMID: 22906717 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2012.06.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2012] [Revised: 06/05/2012] [Accepted: 06/25/2012] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Some investigations have revealed an increased release of psychoactive drugs into the aquatic environments near big cities. However, despite the alert generated by the presence of such neurotoxic compounds, there is a lack of studies evaluating the impact on living organisms. One solution consists in the development of bioassays able to address specific risks, such as neurotoxicity, but on the other hand suitable to assess complex matrices like river samples. The objective of this work was to assess surface water toxicity by means of a zebrafish embryo-larval combined toxicity assay, which is based on a variety of toxicological endpoints, especially those related to neurodevelopment. For such a purpose, we selected the Tagus River in which a previous monitoring study revealed the presence of psychoactive drugs. Results showed that most of the toxicological endpoints evaluated remained unaltered in the exposed embryos, except for the tail length that was larger in the exposed larvae, and the locomotor activity in the 6-day larvae, which was decreased in four groups of exposure (n=5 sampling points). In the absence of systemic toxicity, changes in larval locomotion are indicative of neurotoxicity. This result suggests that the Tagus River can convey neurotoxic compounds at levels that may represent an early and specific threat over the aquatic species of vertebrates, what can have dramatic consequences under the ecological point of view.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jesús Pablo García-Cambero
- Toxicology Area, National Centre for Environmental Health, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ctra Majadahonda-Pozuelo Km 2, 28220 Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain.
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31
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González-Mariño I, Quintana JB, Rodríguez I, Sánchez-Méndez N, Cela R. Transformation of cocaine during water chlorination. Anal Bioanal Chem 2012; 404:3135-44. [DOI: 10.1007/s00216-012-6428-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2012] [Revised: 09/12/2012] [Accepted: 09/13/2012] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Cecinato A, Balducci C, Mastroianni D, Perilli M. Sampling and analytical methods for assessing the levels of organic pollutants in the atmosphere: PAH, phthalates and psychotropic substances: a short review. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2012; 19:1915-1926. [PMID: 22767289 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-012-0959-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2011] [Accepted: 04/27/2012] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
This short review presents the procedures used to monitor PAHs, phthalates and psychotropic substances in the air, and the results of some measurements made in Italy and abroad. Organic contaminants are characterized by a variety of physical and chemical properties, including aggregation phase, concentration level, and life time. This variety widens the spectrum of procedures developed to assess their occurrence in the environment and biota, but prevents the complete speciation of the "organic fraction" of air, waters and particulates, and attention is paid to a few substances. The progress in health sciences stimulates the concern on contaminants and the development of new instrumental apparatuses and methods; new chemicals are continuously identified or recognized as capable of injuring the environment and organisms. Persistent organic pollutants and persistent biologically active toxicants are subject to regulation and extensively measured by means of standard procedures. For instance, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorobiphenyls and polychlorodibenzodioxins are recovered from air through phase partition, thermal desorption or solvent extraction, then separated and detected through GC-MS or HPLC-MS procedures. By contrast, dedicated methods must be still optimized to monitor candidates or possible candidates as emerging organic pollutants, e.g. phthalates, flame retardants and perfluoroalkanes. Also, psychotropic substances appear of potential concern. Legal and illicit substances are commonly detected in the urban air besides waste and surface waters. If nicotine, caffeine and cocaine will result to enough persistence in the air, their monitoring will become an important issue of global chemical watching in the next future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angelo Cecinato
- Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research, National Research Council of Italy (CNR-IIA), Via Salaria km 29.3, Monterotondo Stazione, 00015 Rome, Italy.
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Jurado A, Mastroianni N, Vàzquez-Suñé E, Carrera J, Tubau I, Pujades E, Postigo C, de Alda ML, Barceló D. Drugs of abuse in urban groundwater. A case study: Barcelona. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2012; 424:280-288. [PMID: 22446111 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.02.074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2011] [Revised: 02/21/2012] [Accepted: 02/26/2012] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
This study is concerned with drugs of abuse (DAs) and their metabolites in urban groundwater at field scale in relation to (1) the spatial distribution of DAs in Barcelona's groundwater, (2) the depth of the groundwater samples, (3) the presence of DAs in recharge sources, and (4) the assessment of the fate of DAs in Barcelona aquifers. To this end, 37 urban groundwater samples were collected in the city of Barcelona and a total of 21 drugs were analyzed including cocainics, amphetamine-like compounds, opioids, lysergics and cannabinoids and the prescribed drugs benzodiazepines. Overall, the highest groundwater concentrations (around 200 ng/L in SAP-4) and the largest number of detected DAs were found in zones basically recharged by a river that receives large amounts of effluents from waste water treatment plants (WWTPs). In contrast, the urbanized areas yielded not only lower concentrations but also a much smaller number of drugs, which suggests a local origin. In fact, cocaine and its metabolite were dominant in more prosperous neighborhoods, whereas the cheaper MDMA was the dominant DA in poorer districts. Measured concentrations were consistently smaller than those estimated from the waste water fraction in groundwater samples, suggesting that DAs undergo removal processes in both reducing and oxidizing conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Jurado
- GHS, Institute of Environmental Assessment & Water Research, IDAEA, CSIC, Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034 Barcelona, Spain.
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Kasprzyk-Hordern B, Baker DR. Estimation of community-wide drugs use via stereoselective profiling of sewage. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2012; 423:142-150. [PMID: 22404981 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.02.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2011] [Revised: 02/09/2012] [Accepted: 02/09/2012] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
This paper explores possibilities of applying enantiomeric profiling to solving problems related to estimation of drugs usage in communities via the sewage epidemiology approach: for the identification of whether drug residue results from consumption of illicit drug or metabolism of other drugs, verification of potency of used drugs and monitoring of changing patterns of drugs abuse. Due to the very complex nature of wastewater used in sewage epidemiology, which comes from the whole community rather than one individual, verification of the above is challenging but vital in accurate estimations of drugs abuse as well as providing comprehensive information regarding drug abuse trends. The results of this study indicated that amphetamine in raw wastewater was enriched with R(-)-enantiomer due to its abuse as racemate. Methamphetamine was found to be racemic or to be enriched with S(+)-enantiomer. MDMA was enriched with R(-)-MDMA, which was to be expected as MDMA is abused as racemate. MDA was enriched with S(+)-enantiomer, which suggests that its presence might be associated with MDMA abuse and not intentional MDA use. Out of the four possible isomers of ephedrine only natural 1R,2S(-)-ephedrine and 1S,2S(+)-pseudoephedrine were detected in raw wastewater and their diastereomeric fractions were found to be season dependent with higher contribution from 1S,2S(+)-pseudoephedrine over winter months and an enrichment with 1R,2S(-)-ephedrine during the spring and summer months. These findings were accompanied by a decrease of cumulative concentration of ephedrines throughout the sampling campaign between February and August. This is a very important finding indicating that non-enantioselective measurement of ephedrine concentrations cannot be a reliable indicator of actual potency of ephedrines used.
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González-Mariño I, Quintana JB, Rodríguez I, González-Díez M, Cela R. Screening and Selective Quantification of Illicit Drugs in Wastewater by Mixed-Mode Solid-Phase Extraction and Quadrupole-Time-of-Flight Liquid Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry. Anal Chem 2012; 84:1708-17. [DOI: 10.1021/ac202989e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 100] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Iria González-Mariño
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, Nutrition and Food
Sciences, IIAA-Institute for Food Analysis and Research, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago
de Compostela, Spain
| | - José Benito Quintana
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, Nutrition and Food
Sciences, IIAA-Institute for Food Analysis and Research, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago
de Compostela, Spain
| | - Isaac Rodríguez
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, Nutrition and Food
Sciences, IIAA-Institute for Food Analysis and Research, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago
de Compostela, Spain
| | - Marta González-Díez
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, Nutrition and Food
Sciences, IIAA-Institute for Food Analysis and Research, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago
de Compostela, Spain
| | - Rafael Cela
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, Nutrition and Food
Sciences, IIAA-Institute for Food Analysis and Research, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago
de Compostela, Spain
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Reid MJ, Langford KH, Mørland J, Thomas KV. Quantitative assessment of time dependent drug-use trends by the analysis of drugs and related metabolites in raw sewage. Drug Alcohol Depend 2011; 119:179-86. [PMID: 21737215 DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2011.06.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2011] [Revised: 06/03/2011] [Accepted: 06/07/2011] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Accurate and timely information on the scale and dynamics of drug consumption is important for assessing the needs of law enforcement and public health services in a community. AIMS This paper presents a detailed examination of a comprehensive sewage-sampling campaign for the purposes of increasing an understanding of the dynamics of drug-flows in sewage streams, and developing new methodology by which this technique can support traditional drug-use surveys. METHODS A total of 104 sewage samples were collected from a treatment plant servicing approximately 500000 people and analysed for levels of methamphetamine, cocaine and cocaine metabolites. Careful examination of the kinetics of drug-flow profiles was then performed in order to identify trends or patterns of use within the community. RESULTS Results were validated against identical measurements of pharmaceutical reference compounds. Consumption profiles for cocaine and methamphetamine were found to differ in terms of frequency and timing of use. The majority of cocaine consumption occurs during the evening hours and 45% of consumption of this drug occurs in weekend periods. The flow of methamphetamine in the sewage system appears more evenly spread throughout the week. CONCLUSIONS This result is consistent with both an extended excretion half-life and a pattern of use that is more evenly balanced across all days of the week. Comprehensive investigation in to the scale and kinetics of drug flow in a sewage stream can therefore provide valuable information, not only in terms of the volume of drug consumed, but also in terms of identifying differing usage-patterns over daily and weekly time-scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- Malcolm J Reid
- Norwegian Institute for Water Research, Gaustadalleen 21, NO-0349 Oslo, Norway.
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A hydrolysis procedure for the analysis of total cocaine residues in wastewater. Anal Bioanal Chem 2011; 402:1277-87. [DOI: 10.1007/s00216-011-5553-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2011] [Revised: 10/27/2011] [Accepted: 11/02/2011] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
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van Nuijs ALN, Castiglioni S, Tarcomnicu I, Postigo C, Lopez de Alda M, Neels H, Zuccato E, Barcelo D, Covaci A. Illicit drug consumption estimations derived from wastewater analysis: a critical review. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2011; 409:3564-77. [PMID: 20598736 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2010.05.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 263] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2009] [Revised: 05/21/2010] [Accepted: 05/21/2010] [Indexed: 04/14/2023]
Abstract
The consumption of illicit drugs causes indisputable societal and economic damage. Therefore it is necessary to know their usage levels and trends for undertaking targeted actions to reduce their use. Recently, a new approach (namely sewage epidemiology) was developed for the estimation of illicit drug use based on measurements of urinary excreted illicit drugs and their metabolites in untreated wastewater. This review aims at critically evaluating the published literature and identifying research gaps of sewage epidemiology. Firstly, the existing analytical procedures for the determination of the four most used classes of illicit drugs worldwide (cannabis, cocaine, opiates and amphetamine-like stimulants) and their metabolites in wastewater are summarized and discussed. The focus lies on the sample preparation and on the analysis with chromatographic techniques coupled to mass spectrometry. Secondly, back-calculations used to transform measured concentrations in wastewater (in ng/L) into an amount of used illicit drug (in g/day per 1000 inhabitants or doses/day per 1000 inhabitants) are discussed in detail for the four groups of illicit drugs. Sewage epidemiology data from Spain, Belgium, UK, Italy, Switzerland and USA are summarized and compared with data from international organisations, such as the European Monitoring Centre for Drug and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The results derived from wastewater analysis show in general good agreement with existing prevalence data (percentage of a population that uses illicit drugs at a given time) and demonstrate the potential of sewage epidemiology. However, this review confirms that future work should focus on further optimisation and standardisation of various important parameters (e.g. sample collection and back-calculations). In the future, sewage epidemiology could be used in routine drug monitoring campaigns as a valuable tool in addition to the classical socio-epidemiological studies for the determination of local, national and international illicit drug use.
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Pedrouzo M, Borrull F, Pocurull E, Marcé RM. Drugs of abuse and their metabolites in waste and surface waters by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. J Sep Sci 2011; 34:1091-101. [DOI: 10.1002/jssc.201100043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2011] [Revised: 02/17/2011] [Accepted: 02/25/2011] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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Baker DR, Kasprzyk-Hordern B. Multi-residue analysis of drugs of abuse in wastewater and surface water by solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography–positive electrospray ionisation tandem mass spectrometry. J Chromatogr A 2011; 1218:1620-31. [DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2011.01.060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 177] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2010] [Revised: 01/17/2011] [Accepted: 01/19/2011] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Daughton CG. Illicit drugs: contaminants in the environment and utility in forensic epidemiology. REVIEWS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION AND TOXICOLOGY 2011; 210:59-110. [PMID: 21170703 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4419-7615-4_3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
The published literature that addresses the many facets of pharmaceutical ingredients as environmental contaminants has grown exponentially since the 1990s. Although there are several thousand active ingredients used in medical pharmaceuticals worldwide, illicit drug ingredients (IDIs) have generally been excluded from consideration. Medicinal and illicit drugs have been treated separately in environmental research even though they pose many of the same concerns regarding the potential for both human and ecological exposure. The overview presented here covers the state of knowledge up until mid-2010 regarding the origin, occurrence, fate, and potential for biological effects of IDIs in the environment. Similarities exist with medical pharmaceuticals, particularly with regard to the basic processes by which these ingredients enter the environment--excretion of unmetabolized residues (including via sweat), bathing, disposal, and manufacturing. The features of illicit drugs that distinguish them from medical pharmaceuticals are discussed. Demarcations between the two are not always clear, and a certain degree of overlap adds additional confusion as to what exactly defines an illicit drug; indeed, medical pharmaceuticals diverted from the legal market or used for non-medicinal purposes ar also captured in discussions of illicit drugs. Also needing consideration as par tof the universe of IDIs are the numerous adulterants and synthesis impurities often encountered in these very impure preparations. many of these extraneous chemicals have high biological activity themselves. In contract to medical pharmaceuticals, comparatively little is know about the fate and effects of IDIs in the environment. Environmental surveys for IDIs have revealed their presence in sewage wastewaters, raw sewage sludge and processed sludge (biosolids), and drinking water. Nearly nothing is known, however, regarding wildlife exposure to IDIs, especially aquatic exposure such as indicated by bioconcentration i tissues. In contrast to pharmaceuticals, chemical monitoring surveys have revealed the presence of certain IDIs in air and monetary currencies--the latter being of interest for the forensic tracking of money used in drug trafficking. Another unknown with regard to IDIs is the accuracy of current knowledge regarding the complete scope of chemical identities of the numerous types of IDIs in actual use (particularly some of the continually evolving designer drugs new to forensic chemistry) as well as the total quantities being trafficked, consumed, or disposed. The major aspect unique to the study of IDI's in the environment is making use of their presence in the environment as a tool to obtain better estimates of the collective usage of illicit drugs across entire communities. First proposed in 2001, but under investigation with field applications only since 2005, this new modeling approach for estimating drug usage by monitoring the concentrations of IDIs (or certain unique metabolites) in untreated sewage has potential as an additional source of data to augment or corroborate the information-collection ability of conventional written and oral surveys of drug-user populations. This still evolving monitoring tool has been called "sewer epidemiology" but is referred to in this chapter by a more descriptive proposed term "FEUDS" (Forensic Epidemiology Using Drugs in Sewage). The major limitation of FEUDS surrounds the variables involved at various steps performed in FEUDS calculations. These variables are summarized and span sampling and chemical analysis to the final numeric calculations, which particularly require a better understanding of IDI pharmacokinetics than currently exists. Although little examined in the literature, the potential for abuse of FEUDS as a tool in law enforcement is briefly discussed. Finally, the growing interest in FEUDS as a methodological approach for estimating collective public usage of illicit drugs points to the feasibility of mining other types of chemical information from sewage. On the horizon is the potential for "sewage information mining" (SIM) as a general approach for measuring a nearly limitless array of biochemical markers that could serve as collective indicators of the specific or general status of public health or disease at the community-wide level. SIM may create the opportunity to view communities from a new perspective--"communities as the patient." This could potentially lead to the paradigm of combining human and ecological communities as a single patient--as an interconnected whole.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian G Daughton
- Environmental Chemistry Branch, National Exposure Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Las Vegas, NV 89119, USA.
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Sorg BA, Stark G, Sergeeva A, Jansen HT. Photoperiodic suppression of drug reinstatement. Neuroscience 2010; 176:284-95. [PMID: 21185915 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2010.12.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2010] [Revised: 11/29/2010] [Accepted: 12/16/2010] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The rewarding influence of drugs of abuse varies with time of day and appears to involve interactions between the circadian and the mesocorticolimbic dopamine systems. The circadian system is also intimately involved in measuring daylength. Thus, the present study examined the impact of changing daylength (photoperiod) on cocaine-seeking behaviors. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were trained and tested on a 12L:12D light:dark schedule for cocaine-induced reinstatement of conditioned place preference (CPP) at three times of day (Zeitgeber time (ZT): 4, 12, and 20) to determine a preference score. Rats were then shifted to either shorter (6L:18D) or longer (18L:6D) photoperiods and then to constant conditions, re-tested for cocaine-induced reinstatement under each different condition, and then returned to their original photoperiod (12L:12D) and tested once more. Rats exhibited a circadian profile of preference score in constant darkness with a peak at 12 h after lights-off. At both ZT4 and ZT20, but not at ZT12, shorter photoperiods profoundly suppressed cocaine reinstatement, which did not recover even after switching back to 12L:12D. In contrast, longer photoperiods did not alter reinstatement. Separate studies showed that the suppression of cocaine reinstatement was not due to repeated testing. In an additional experiment, we examined the photoperiodic regulation of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and dopamine transporter (DAT) proteins in drug-naive rats. These results revealed photoperiodic modulation of proteins in the prefrontal cortex and dorsal striatum, but not in the nucleus accumbens or ventral tegmental area. Together, these findings add further support to the circadian genesis of cocaine-seeking behaviors and demonstrate that drug-induced reinstatement is modulated by photoperiod. Furthermore, the results suggest that photoperiod partly contributes to the seasonal expression of certain drug-related behaviors in humans living at different latitudes and thus our findings may have implications for novel targeting of circadian rhythms in the treatment of addiction.
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Affiliation(s)
- B A Sorg
- Programs in Neuroscience and Department of Veterinary and Comparative Anatomy, Pharmacology and Physiology (VCAPP), 205 Wegner Hall, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA
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Abstract
Past studies in rodents have demonstrated circannual variation in central dopaminergic activity as well as a host of compelling interactions between melatonin--a scotoperiod-responsive neurohormone closely tied to seasonal adaptation--and dopamine in the striatum and in midbrain neuronal populations with striatal projections. In humans, seasonal effects have been described for dopaminergic markers in CSF and postmortem brain, and there exists a range of affective, psychotic, and substance abuse disorders that have been associated with both seasonal symptomatic fluctuations and dopamine neurotransmission abnormalities. Together, these data indirectly suggest a potentially crucial link between circannual biorhythms and central dopamine systems. However, seasonal effects on dopamine function in the living, healthy human brain have never been tested. For this study, 86 healthy adults underwent (18)F-DOPA positron emission tomography scanning, each at a different time throughout the year. Striatal regions of interest (ROIs) were evaluated for differences in presynaptic dopamine synthesis, measured by the kinetic rate constant, K(i), between fall-winter and spring-summer scans. Analyses comparing ROI average K(i) values showed significantly greater putamen (18)F-DOPA K(i) in the fall-winter relative to the spring-summer group (p = 0.038). Analyses comparing voxelwise K(i) values confirmed this finding and evidenced intrastriatal localization of seasonal effects to the caudal putamen (p < 0.05, false-discovery rate corrected), a region that receives dopaminergic input predominantly from the substantia nigra. These data are the first to directly demonstrate a seasonal effect on striatal presynaptic dopamine synthesis and merit future research aimed at elucidating underlying mechanisms and implications for neuropsychiatric disease and new treatment approaches.
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Berset JD, Brenneisen R, Mathieu C. Analysis of llicit and illicit drugs in waste, surface and lake water samples using large volume direct injection high performance liquid chromatography--electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). CHEMOSPHERE 2010; 81:859-866. [PMID: 20801487 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2010.08.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 124] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2010] [Revised: 08/02/2010] [Accepted: 08/03/2010] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
Llicit and illicit drugs represent a recent group of emerging contaminants and have been found in the aquatic environment. A HPLC-MS/MS method was developed using direct injection (DI) of larger volumes and a polar endcapped reversed-phase (RP) column to measure drug components in water samples belonging to the cocaine group, opiates, amphetamine-like stimulants and metabolites thereof. After validation, including sensitivity, linearity, recovery, precision and matrix effect studies, most drugs could be detected with limits of quantitation (LOQ) of 20 ng L(-1) in wastewater (WW) and 0.2 ng L(-1) in surface water. The major substances found in influents and effluents were cocaine (COC), benzoylecgonine (BE), morphine (MO), methadone (MD) and its main metabolite 2-ethylidene-1,5-dimethyl-3,3-diphenylpyrrolidine (EDDP) with concentrations up to 2 μg L(-1), followed by codeine (COD) and the amphetamines which ranged between 20 and 400 ng L(-1). Except for MO, COD and EDDP levels were generally lower in the effluents. River and lake water contained trace amounts of mainly BE, MD and EDDP from the high pg L(-1) to the low ng L(-1) level. Monitoring COC and BE levels over 11 consecutive days in influents and effluents suggests a consumption preference on week-end days. Finally, measuring an influent after a major music event revealed that sewage treatment plants (STPs) are exposed, for a limited period of time, to high concentration peaks of COC and BE as well as amphetamine-like stimulants such as ecstasy (MDMA).
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean-Daniel Berset
- Water and Soil Protection Laboratory (WSPL), Environmental Organic Chemistry Group (EOCG), Office of Water and Waste (OWW), Schermenweg 11, 3014 Bern, Switzerland.
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45
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Buchberger WW. Current approaches to trace analysis of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in the environment. J Chromatogr A 2010; 1218:603-18. [PMID: 21067760 DOI: 10.1016/j.chroma.2010.10.040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 150] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2010] [Revised: 10/05/2010] [Accepted: 10/07/2010] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
A large number of xenobiotics including pharmaceuticals and personal care products are continuously released into the environment. Effluents from sewage treatment plants are well known to be the major source for introduction of pharmaceuticals and personal care products into the aquatic system. In recent years, reliable methods have been established for residue analysis of these pollutants down to low ng/L levels. In this review, the different approaches to their trace determination are reviewed with special attention being paid to sample preparation procedures, state-of-the-art high-performance separation methods hyphenated with mass spectrometry, and immunochemical methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wolfgang W Buchberger
- Johannes-Kepler-University, Institute of Analytical Chemistry, Altenbergerstrasse 69, A-4040 Linz, Austria.
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Metcalfe C, Tindale K, Li H, Rodayan A, Yargeau V. Illicit drugs in Canadian municipal wastewater and estimates of community drug use. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2010; 158:3179-3185. [PMID: 20667638 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2010.07.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2010] [Revised: 06/28/2010] [Accepted: 07/01/2010] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
In this study of wastewater treatment plants in three Canadian cities, selected illicit drugs, including cocaine and its major metabolite, benzoylecgonine (BE), amphetamine, methamphetamine and ecstasy (i.e. MDMA) were detected in untreated wastewater. Cocaine was the most widely used illicit drug at a median level for the 3 cities of 15.7 doses per day per 1000 people. For the other drugs, the median doses per day per 1000 people were 1.8 for amphetamine, 4.5 for methamphetamine and 0.4 for ecstasy. Methamphetamine use was highest in the largest city and cocaine use was lowest in the smallest city. Removal of the illicit drugs by wastewater treatment was generally >50%, except in a WWTP that uses primary treatment. The community consumption estimate for ecstasy in the present study is far below published estimates of the prevalence of ecstasy use among the Canadian population, which may be due to only occasional use of ecstasy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chris Metcalfe
- Worsfold Water Quality Centre, Trent University, 1600 West Bank Drive Peterborough, ON, K9J 7B8, Canada.
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Bisceglia KJ, Roberts AL, Schantz MM, Lippa KA. Quantification of drugs of abuse in municipal wastewater via SPE and direct injection liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. Anal Bioanal Chem 2010; 398:2701-12. [PMID: 20865408 DOI: 10.1007/s00216-010-4191-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2010] [Revised: 08/30/2010] [Accepted: 09/02/2010] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
We present an isotopic-dilution direct injection reversed-phase liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the simultaneous determination of 23 drugs of abuse, drug metabolites, and human-use markers in municipal wastewater. The method places particular emphasis on cocaine; it includes 11 of its metabolites to facilitate assessment of routes of administration and to enhance the accuracy of estimates of cocaine consumption. Four opioids (6-acetylmorphine, morphine, hydrocodone, and oxycodone) are also included, along with five phenylamine drugs (amphetamine, methamphetamine, 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine, methylbenzodioxolyl-butanamine, and 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-ethylamphetamine) and two human-use markers (cotinine and creatinine). The method is sufficiently sensitive to directly quantify (without preconcentration) 18 analytes in wastewater at concentrations less than 50 ng/L. We also present a modified version of this method that incorporates solid-phase extraction to further enhance sensitivity. The method includes a confirmatory LC separation (selected by evaluating 13 unique chromatographic phases) that has been evaluated using National Institute of Standards and Technology Standard Reference Material 1511 Multi-Drugs of Abuse in Freeze-Dried Urine. Seven analytes (ecgonine methyl ester, ecgonine ethyl ester, anhydroecgonine methyl ester, m-hydroxybenzoylecgonine, p-hydroxybenzoyl-ecgonine, ecgonine, and anhydroecgonine) were detected for the first time in a wastewater sample.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin J Bisceglia
- Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
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48
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Kasprzyk-Hordern B. Pharmacologically active compounds in the environment and their chirality. Chem Soc Rev 2010; 39:4466-503. [PMID: 20852776 DOI: 10.1039/c000408c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 282] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Pharmacologically active compounds including both legally used pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs are potent environmental contaminants. Extensive research has been undertaken over the recent years to understand their environmental fate and toxicity. The one very important phenomenon that has been overlooked by environmental researchers studying the fate of pharmacologically active compounds in the environment is their chirality. Chiral drugs can exist in the form of enantiomers, which have similar physicochemical properties but differ in their biological properties such as distribution, metabolism and excretion, as these processes (due to stereospecific interactions of enantiomers with biological systems) usually favour one enantiomer over the other. Additionally, due to different pharmacological activity, enantiomers of chiral drugs can differ in toxicity. Furthermore, degradation of chiral drugs during wastewater treatment and in the environment can be stereoselective and can lead to chiral products of varied toxicity. The distribution of different enantiomers of the same chiral drug in the aquatic environment and biota can also be stereoselective. Biological processes can lead to stereoselective enrichment or depletion of the enantiomeric composition of chiral drugs. As a result the very same drug might reveal different activity and toxicity and this will depend on its origin and exposure to several factors governing its fate in the environment. In this critical review a discussion of the importance of chirality of pharmacologically active compounds in the environmental context is undertaken and suggestions for directions in further research are made. Several groups of chiral drugs of major environmental relevance are discussed and their pharmacological action and disposition in the body is also outlined as it is a key factor in developing a full understanding of their environmental occurrence, fate and toxicity. This review will be of interest to environmental scientists, especially those interested in issues associated with environmental contamination with pharmacologically active compounds and chiral pollutants. As the review will outline current state of knowledge on chiral drugs, it will be of value to anyone interested in the phenomenon of chirality, chiral drugs, their stereoselective disposition in the body and environmental fate (212 references).
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern
- University of Huddersfield, Department of Chemical and Biological Sciences, School of Applied Sciences, Queensgate, Huddersfield HD1 3DH, UK.
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Ort C, Lawrence MG, Rieckermann J, Joss A. Sampling for pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) and illicit drugs in wastewater systems: are your conclusions valid? A critical review. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2010; 44:6024-35. [PMID: 20704196 DOI: 10.1021/es100779n] [Citation(s) in RCA: 327] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
The analysis of 87 peer-reviewed journal articles reveals that sampling for pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) and illicit drugs in sewers and sewage treatment plant influents is mostly carried out according to existing tradition or standard laboratory protocols. Less than 5% of all studies explicitly consider internationally acknowledged guidelines or methods for the experimental design of monitoring campaigns. In the absence of a proper analysis of the system under investigation, the importance of short-term pollutant variations was typically not addressed. Therefore, due to relatively long sampling intervals, potentially inadequate sampling modes, or insufficient documentation, it remains unclear for the majority of reviewed studies whether observed variations can be attributed to "real" variations or if they simply reflect sampling artifacts. Based on results from previous and current work, the present paper demonstrates that sampling errors can lead to overinterpretation of measured data and ultimately, wrong conclusions. Depending on catchment size, sewer type, sampling setup, substance of interest, and accuracy of analytical method, avoidable sampling artifacts can range from "not significant" to "100% or more" for different compounds even within the same study. However, in most situations sampling errors can be reduced greatly, and sampling biases can be eliminated completely, by choosing an appropriate sampling mode and frequency. This is crucial, because proper sampling will help to maximize the value of measured data for the experimental assessment of the fate of PPCPs as well as for the formulation and validation of mathematical models. The trend from reporting presence or absence of a compound in "clean" water samples toward the quantification of PPCPs in raw wastewater requires not only sophisticated analytical methods but also adapted sampling methods. With increasing accuracy of chemical analyses, inappropriate sampling increasingly represents the major source of inaccuracy. A condensed step-by-step Sampling Guide is proposed as a starting point for future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christoph Ort
- The University of Queensland, Advanced Water Management Centre, QLD 4072, Australia.
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Terzic S, Senta I, Ahel M. Illicit drugs in wastewater of the city of Zagreb (Croatia)--estimation of drug abuse in a transition country. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2010; 158:2686-2693. [PMID: 20510491 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2010.04.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2009] [Revised: 04/16/2010] [Accepted: 04/26/2010] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
A comprehensive study of various psychoactive substances and their metabolites was performed in the wastewater treatment plant of the city of Zagreb (780 000 inhabitants) using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS). The estimation of drug abuse for five different illicit drugs, including heroin, cocaine, marijuana, amphetamine and ecstasy, was made on the basis of their representative excretion rates, which were determined over a period of 8 months. Marijuana (1000 kg/year), heroin (75 kg/year) and cocaine (47 kg/year) were found to be the most frequently consumed illicit drugs, while the consumption of amphetamine-type drugs was much lower (1-3 kg/year). A comparison with other reports indicated that drug abuse profiles in transition countries might be different from those reported for Western Europe, in particular with respect to the comparatively increased consumption of heroin. Enhanced consumption of stimulating drugs (cocaine and ectasy) was systematically detected during weekends.
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Affiliation(s)
- Senka Terzic
- Division for Marine and Environmental Research, Rudjer Boskovic Institute, Bijenicka 54, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
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