Aim of this study was to provide an up-to-date assessment of the antibiotics contaminating the aqueous environment in Italy, for a better understanding of risks for the ecosystem and human health. ...Antibiotics were first listed in order of their theoretical environmental loads, then were measured in wastewater of some sewage treatment plants (STPs) and in rivers in Italy. Macrolides, particularly clarithromycin and spiramycin, and quinolones, particularly ciprofloxacin and
l-floxacin/ofloxacin, were the most abundant antibiotics in untreated wastewater. Several of them were not removed in STPs and still remained in the treated wastewater, and a total estimate of 7–14
tons of active principles were discharged annually into the aqueous environment in Italy through this route. Results of the analysis of rivers in northern Italy agreed with these figures, with an average load of 5
kg/day, or about 1.8
tons/year, of antibiotics flowing in the River Po, at sampling sites covering a basin comprising about one-fifth of the Italian population. In conclusion, antibiotics, particularly macrolides and quinolones, are widespread environmental contaminants, and urban STPs are confirmed a major source of the contamination.
Illicit drugs in the environment Zuccato, Ettore; Castiglioni, Sara
Philosophical transactions - Royal Society. Mathematical, Physical and engineering sciences/Philosophical transactions - Royal Society. Mathematical, physical and engineering sciences,
10/2009, Volume:
367, Issue:
1904
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
This paper reviews the current state of knowledge on illicit drugs as emerging environmental contaminants. Several studies have recently reported that illicit drugs are detectable in wastewater from ...municipal sewage treatment plants (STPs) and surface waters. These substances are excreted in urine and faeces unchanged or as active metabolites in high percentages after consumption and continuously discharged into domestic wastewaters. Residues of illicit drugs can therefore reach STPs in substantial amounts, escaping degradation, and are then released into surface waters. Environmental concentrations are low, but risks for human health and the environment cannot be excluded. Morphine, cocaine, methamphetamine and ecstasy all have potent pharmacological activities, and their presence as complex mixtures in surface waters may be toxic to aquatic organisms. Levels of residues in untreated wastewater have been used to estimate illicit drug consumption in the population. Given that current epidemiological methods are indirect and possibly biased, this evidence-based approach offers a new tool for estimating drug abuse in real time.
•Monitoring occurrence and fate of perfluorinated compounds in the aqueous environment.•Industrial wastes are the main source of contamination in a highly industrialized urban area.•Perfluorinated ...substances were not removed in sewage treatment plants.•Surface water contamination was increasing from north to south in the Lambro river basin.•Ground and drinking water were also contaminated in industrial areas.
Perfluorinated substances are listed among emerging contaminants because they are globally distributed, environmentally persistent, bioaccumulative and potentially harmful. In a three-year monitoring campaign (2010–2013) we investigated the occurrence, sources and fate of nine perfluoroalkylcarboxylic acids and three perfluoroalkylsulfonic acids, in the most industrialized region of Italy. Composite samples were collected in influents and effluents of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), in the main rivers flowing through the basin, and in raw groundwater and finished drinking water. Samples were analyzed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Perfluorinated substances were not removed in WWTPs and those receiving industrial wastes discharged up to 50 times the loads of WWTPs receiving municipal wastes. The mass balance of the emissions in the River Lambro basin showed continuously increasing contamination from north to south and differences in the composition of homologues in the west and east sides of the basin. Ground and drinking water were contaminated in industrial areas, but these substances were removed well in Milan. Contamination from industrial sources was prevalent over urban sources, contributing to 90% of the loads measured at the closure of the basin. The River Lambro was confirmed as one of the main sources of contamination in the Po River.
A predictive approach seems useful to identify pharmaceuticals in the environment and give an idea of overall levels of contamination, so as to restrict monitoring to those molecules most likely to ...be contaminants. We propose an approach based on two parts. The first is to rank the molecules according to the predicted environmental loads; the second is to refine the list by analysing the pharmaceuticals in sewage treatment plants (STPs) and comparing the concentrations with levels previously measured in surface water. This approach identified a restricted group of priority pollutants (ofloxacin, furosemide, atenolol, hydrochlorothiazide, carbamazepine, ibuprofen, spiramycin, bezafibrate, erythromycin, lincomycin and clarithromycin) in the aquatic environment in Italy, for further studies and monitoring.
The information obtained from the chemical analysis of specific human excretion products (biomarkers) in urban wastewater can be used to estimate the exposure or consumption of the population under ...investigation to a defined substance. A proper biomarker can provide relevant information about lifestyle habits, health and wellbeing, but its selection is not an easy task as it should fulfil several specific requirements in order to be successfully employed. This paper aims to summarize the current knowledge related to the most relevant biomarkers used so far. In addition, some potential wastewater biomarkers that could be used for future applications were evaluated. For this purpose, representative chemical classes have been chosen and grouped in four main categories: (i) those that provide estimates of lifestyle factors and substance use, (ii) those used to estimate the exposure to toxicants present in the environment and food, (iii) those that have the potential to provide information about public health and illness and (iv) those used to estimate the population size. To facilitate the evaluation of the eligibility of a compound as a biomarker, information, when available, on stability in urine and wastewater and pharmacokinetic data (i.e. metabolism and urinary excretion profile) has been reviewed. Finally, several needs and recommendations for future research are proposed.
•Wastewater biomarkers provide information on lifestyle habits, health and wellbeing.•Specific criteria should be followed to select a suitable biomarker.•Report of the current knowledge of the most relevant biomarkers used so far•Proposal of potential wastewater biomarkers for future applications•Review of pharmacokinetic data and stability in urine and wastewater for each biomarker
•Wastewater analysis provided insights on drug use during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.•Speculated decrease in consumption did not occur in all cities nor for all drugs.•Measures had different effects, ...even at the regional level.•Additional and complementary data needed to fully understand the impact on drug use.
The COVID-19 outbreak has forced countries to introduce severe restrictive measures to contain its spread. In particular, physical distancing and restriction of movement have had important consequences on human behaviour and potentially also on illicit drug use and supply. These changes can be associated with additional risks for users, in particular due to reduced access to prevention and harm reduction activities. Furthermore, there have been limitations in the amount of data about drug use which can be collected due to restrictions. To goal of this study was to obtain information about potential changes in illicit drug use impacted by COVID-19 restrictions. Wastewater samples were collected in seven cities in the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Italy at the beginning of lockdowns (March-May 2020). Using previously established and validated methods, levels of amphetamine (AMP), methamphetamine (METH), MDMA, benzoylecgonine (BE, the main metabolite of cocaine) and 11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC-COOH, main metabolite of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)) were measured and compared with findings from previous years. Important differences in levels of consumed drugs were observed across the considered countries. Whilst for some substances and locations, marked decreases in consumption could be observed (e.g., 50% decrease in MDMA levels compared to previous years). In some cases, similar or even higher levels compared to previous years could be found. Changes in weekly patterns were also observed, however these were not clearly defined for all locations and/or substances. Findings confirm that the current situation is highly heterogeneous and that it remains very difficult to explain and/or predict the effect that the present pandemic has on illicit drug use and availability. However, given the current difficulty in obtaining data due to restrictions, wastewater analysis can provide relevant information about the situation at the local level, which would be hard to obtain otherwise.
•The toxicity of illicit drug mixtures to aquatic organism is utterly unknown.•We measured oxidative alterations induced by an illicit drug mixture to the zebra mussel.•The exposure to the realistic ...mixture imbalanced the activity of defense enzymes.•Remarkable increases of oxidative damage were noticed.
Illicit drugs are considered to be emerging aquatic pollutants since they are commonly found in freshwater ecosystems in the high ngL−1 to low μgL−1 range concentrations. Although the environmental occurrence of the most common psychoactive compounds is well known, recently some investigations showed their potential toxicity toward non-target aquatic organisms. However, to date, these studies completely neglected that organisms in the real environment are exposed to a complex mixture, which could lead to dissimilar adverse effects. The present study investigated the oxidative alterations of the freshwater bivalve Dreissena polymorpha induced by a 14-d exposure to an environmentally relevant mixture of the most common illicit drugs found in the aquatic environment, namely cocaine (50ngL−1), benzoylecgonine (300ngL−1), amphetamine (300ngL−1), morphine (100ngL−1) and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (50ngL−1). The total oxidant status (TOS) was measured to investigate the increase in the reactive oxygen species’ levels, while the activity of antioxidant enzymes and glutathione S-transferase were measured to note the eventual imbalances between pro-oxidant and antioxidant molecules. In addition, oxidative damage was assessed by measuring the levels of lipid peroxidation and protein carbonylation. Significant time-dependent increases of all the antioxidant activities were induced by the mixture. Moreover, the illicit drug mixture significantly increased the levels of carbonylated proteins and caused a slight variation in lipid peroxidation. Our results showed that a mixture of illicit drugs at realistic environmental concentrations can impair the oxidative status of the zebra mussel, posing a serious hazard to the health status of this bivalve species.
•A predictive approach to monitor pharmaceuticals in the environment is proposed.•All prioritized pharmaceuticals were detected in STP effluent and river water.•After refinement the PECs approximated ...the measured values (MECs) in many cases.•But for OTC pharmaceuticals the PECs were frequently underestimated.•The use of specific analytical data increased accuracy of the prediction locally.
A predictive approach is needed to study pharmaceuticals and their loads in the environment so as to restrict monitoring to the molecules most likely to occur widely. A three steps method has been developed for this purpose. The first step is to establish the Predicted Environmental Concentrations (PECs) following the approach proposed by the European Medicines Agency (EMA); then the list is refined taking account of metabolic rates and excretion of the parent compounds in humans. In the third stage the substances are sorted according to their fate in sewage treatment plants (STPs). Finally, the results are compared with real concentrations of the pharmaceuticals in surface waters analyzed by HPLC–MS/MS techniques. This paper reports results of this predictive approach in 2013 for Italy.
Caffeine metabolites in wastewater were investigated as potential biomarkers for assessing caffeine intake in a population. The main human urinary metabolites of caffeine were measured in the urban ...wastewater of ten European cities and the metabolic profiles in wastewater were compared with the human urinary excretion profile. A good match was found for 1,7-dimethyluric acid, an exclusive caffeine metabolite, suggesting that might be a suitable biomarker in wastewater for assessing population-level caffeine consumption. A correction factor was developed considering the percentage of excretion of this metabolite in humans, according to published pharmacokinetic studies. Daily caffeine intake estimated from wastewater analysis was compared with the average daily intake calculated from the average amount of coffee consumed by country per capita. Good agreement was found in some cities but further information is needed to standardize this approach. Wastewater analysis proved useful to providing additional local information on caffeine use.
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•Analysis of caffeine and metabolites in wastewater in ten European cities•Comparison of metabolic profiles in wastewater and in human urine•Selection of a suitable biomarker for assessing population level caffeine consumption•Use of 1,7-dimethyluric acid for caffeine consumption back-calculation•Comparison of caffeine intake from wastewater vs coffee trade by country per capita
Consumption of pharmaceuticals by people is growing. Carbamazepine (CBZ) is an extensively used anti-epileptic drug that is recalcitrant to degradation. As a result, CBZ has been widely detected in ...the aquatic ecosystem due to its daily consumption and drainage in sewage systems. Leakages from sewage networks and septic tanks may represent one of the main sources of CBZ in groundwater. In this study, CBZ concentrations in groundwater and their correlations with the demographic structure of the population were investigated in the densely populated Milan urban area. Seventy-six demographic variables were retrieved from the Italian Population and Housing census. Twenty-one groundwater samples were collected from unconfined and semi-confined aquifers of the Milan area and the concentration of CBZ was measured. Groundwater CBZ levels in both aquifers were associated with the demographic data within a circular buffer with a radius of 1.5 km. All data were analyzed using a multivariate statistical approach. The results showed a significant association (p < 0.05) between CBZ concentrations and specific demographic segments of the population. Higher CBZ concentrations were found to be associated with the population aged 70 years and over (aging index), and with families having children aged under 5 years (family index). In addition, the divorce index was correlated with the high concentration of CBZ, whereas the educated and sexagenarian population showed a negative correlation. Our results indicated that the contamination of CBZ follows the same pattern in unconfined and semi-confined aquifers, which are used for drinking water purposes in Milan area. Therefore, changing the CBZ consumption pattern or replacing CBZ with other drugs may strongly influence groundwater contamination of the investigated area.
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