PMID- 29948683 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20200203 LR - 20221207 IS - 1614-7499 (Electronic) IS - 0944-1344 (Linking) VI - 26 IP - 33 DP - 2019 Nov TI - Occurrence, removal and environmental risk of markers of five drugs of abuse in urban wastewater systems in South Australia. PG - 33816-33826 LID - 10.1007/s11356-018-2464-6 [doi] AB - The occurrence and fate of five drugs of abuse in raw influent and treated effluent wastewater were investigated over a period of 1 year in the Adelaide region of South Australia. Four wastewater treatment plants were chosen for this study and monitored for five drugs which included cocaine in the form of its metabolite benzoylecgonine (BE), methamphetamine, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and two opioids (codeine and morphine) during the period April 2016 to February 2017. Alongside concentrations in raw sewage, the levels of drugs in the treated effluent were assessed and removal efficiencies were calculated. Drug concentrations were measured by mixed-mode solid phase extraction and liquid chromatography coupled to a quadrupole mass spectrometer. Drug concentrations detected in the raw wastewater ranged from 7 to 6510 ng/L and < LOD to 4264 ng/L in treated effluent samples. Drug removal rates varied seasonally and spatially. The mass loads of drugs discharged into the environment were in descending order: codeine > methamphetamine > morphine > MDMA > BE. Results showed that all the targeted drugs were on average incompletely removed by wastewater treatment, with removal performance highest for morphine (94%) and lowest for MDMA (58%). A screening-level environmental risk assessment was subsequently performed for the drugs based on effluent wastewater concentrations. Based on calculated risk quotients, overall environmental risk for these compounds appears low, with codeine and methamphetamine likely to pose the greatest potential risk to receiving environments. Given the recognised limitations of current ecotoxicological models and risk assessment methods for these and other pharmaceutical drugs, the potential for environmental impacts associated with the continuous discharge of these compounds in wastewater effluents should not be overlooked. FAU - Yadav, Meena K AU - Yadav MK AD - Natural and Built Environments Research Centre, School of Natural and Built Environments, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA, 5095, Australia. FAU - Short, Michael D AU - Short MD AD - Natural and Built Environments Research Centre, School of Natural and Built Environments, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA, 5095, Australia. AD - Future Industries Institute, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA, 5095, Australia. FAU - Gerber, Cobus AU - Gerber C AD - School of Pharmacy and Medical Science, City East Campus, North Terrace, Playford Building, Level 4, Room 47, Adelaide, SA, 5000, Australia. FAU - van den Akker, Ben AU - van den Akker B AD - Natural and Built Environments Research Centre, School of Natural and Built Environments, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA, 5095, Australia. AD - Australian Water Quality Centre, SA Water, 250 Victoria Square, Adelaide SA 5000; GPO Box 1751, Adelaide, SA, 5001, Australia. FAU - Aryal, Rupak AU - Aryal R AD - Natural and Built Environments Research Centre, School of Natural and Built Environments, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA, 5095, Australia. FAU - Saint, Christopher P AU - Saint CP AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-4229-4348 AD - Natural and Built Environments Research Centre, School of Natural and Built Environments, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA, 5095, Australia. Christopher.Saint@unisa.edu.au. AD - Future Industries Institute, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA, 5095, Australia. Christopher.Saint@unisa.edu.au. AD - Division of Information Technology, Engineering and the Environment, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes, SA, 5095, Australia. Christopher.Saint@unisa.edu.au. LA - eng PT - Journal Article DEP - 20180609 PL - Germany TA - Environ Sci Pollut Res Int JT - Environmental science and pollution research international JID - 9441769 RN - 0 (Biomarkers) RN - 0 (Illicit Drugs) RN - 0 (Sewage) RN - 0 (Waste Water) RN - 0 (Water Pollutants, Chemical) RN - 44RAL3456C (Methamphetamine) RN - 5353I8I6YS (benzoylecgonine) RN - I5Y540LHVR (Cocaine) RN - KE1SEN21RM (N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine) SB - IM MH - Biomarkers MH - Chromatography, Liquid MH - Cocaine/analogs & derivatives MH - *Environmental Monitoring MH - Humans MH - Illicit Drugs/*analysis MH - Methamphetamine/analysis MH - N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine/analysis MH - Sewage/chemistry MH - Solid Phase Extraction MH - South Australia MH - Waste Disposal, Fluid MH - Wastewater/*chemistry MH - Water Pollutants, Chemical/*analysis OTO - NOTNLM OT - Chemicals of concern OT - Illicit drugs OT - LC-MS/MS OT - Methamphetamine OT - Risk assessment EDAT- 2018/06/28 06:00 MHDA- 2020/02/06 06:00 CRDT- 2018/06/28 06:00 PHST- 2018/03/15 00:00 [received] PHST- 2018/05/31 00:00 [accepted] PHST- 2018/06/28 06:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2020/02/06 06:00 [medline] PHST- 2018/06/28 06:00 [entrez] AID - 10.1007/s11356-018-2464-6 [pii] AID - 10.1007/s11356-018-2464-6 [doi] PST - ppublish SO - Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2019 Nov;26(33):33816-33826. doi: 10.1007/s11356-018-2464-6. Epub 2018 Jun 9.