Drugs of abuse and metabolites in urban wastewater: a case study, municipality of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22478/ufpb.1981-1268.2020v14n1.46070

Abstract

The use of drugs of abuse is a concern for social and public health aspects, but also for environmental contamination. However, the study of these pollutants becomes important since the magnitude, nature and consumption patterns can be evaluated through the range of compounds detected in wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). Wastewater-based epidemiology depend on the principle that traces of compounds, which a population is exposed to or consume are excreted unchanged or as metabolites in urine and/or faeces, and ultimately end up in the sewer network. For this purpose, it was used a high-performance liquid chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) analytical method to assess the concentrations of two drug of abuses and metabolites (cocaine and cannabis) in influent samples from Penha and Ilha do Governador WWTPs, in the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro. A systematic use of cocaine and cannabis was identified by detection in all samples analysed. This study corroborates with other findings related to the methodological approach which can be largely applied to monitor the use of drug of abuses, giving important subsidies to both environmental and health control systems.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Aldo Pacheco Ferreira, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública Sergio Arouca

Bi[ologo, MSc e DSc em Engenharia Biomédica (UFRJ). Pesquisador da Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública Sergio Arouca, Departamento de Direitos Humanos, Saúde e Diversidade Cultural. Área: Engenharia Abiental, Direitos Humanos e Saúde, Saúde Pública

References

Banta-Green C, Field J. 2011. Citywide drug testing using municipal wastewater. Significance, v. 8, p.70-74.

Campos RR. 2014. Geografia política das drogas ilegais. Leme: JHMizuno.

Castiglioni S, Bijlsma L, Covaci A, Emke E, Hernández F, Reid M, Ort C, Thomas KV, Van Nuijs ALN, De Voogt P, Zuccato E. 2013. Evaluation of uncertainties associated with the determination of community drug use through the measurement of sewage drug biomarkers. Environ. Sci. Technol., v. 47, p. 1452–1460.

Castiglioni S, Thomas KV, Kasprzyk-Hordern B, Vandam L, Griffiths P. 2014. Testing wastewater to detect illicit drugs: State of the art, potential and research needs. Sci. Total Environ., v. 487, p. 613–620.

Daughton CG. Illicit drugs in municipal sewage: proposed new non-intrusive tool to heighten public awareness of societal use of illicit/abused drugs and their potential for ecological consequences. 2001. In: American Chemical Society, Symposium Series. American Chemical Society, Symposium Series, Washington, DC, p. 348–364.

European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction - EMCDDA. 2015. European Drug Report 2015. Available at http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/edr2015

Gerrity D, Trenholm RA, Snyder SA. 2011. Temporal variability of pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs in wastewater and the effects of a major sporting event. Water Res., v. 45, p. 5399–5411.

Gomes RL, Scrimshaw MD, Lester JN. 2009. Fate of conjugated natural and synthetic steroid estrogens in crude sewage and activated sludge batch studies. Environ. Sci. Technol., v. 43, p. 3612–3618.

Hall W, Prichard J, Kirkbride P, Bruno R, Thai PK, Gartner C, Lai FY, Ort C, Mueller JF. 2012. An analysis of ethical issues in using wastewater. Addiction, v. 107, p. 1767–1773.

Lai FYIN, Thai PK, Brien JO, Gartner C, Bruno R, Kele B, Ort C, Prichard J, Kirkbride P, Hall W, Carter S, Mueller JF. 2013. Using quantitative wastewater analysis to measure daily usage of conventional and emerging illicit drugs at an annual music festival. Drug Alcohol Rev., v. 32, p. 594–602.

Moffat AC, Osselton MD, Widdop B. 2011. Clarke’s analysis of drugs and poisons. Pharmaceutical press: London.

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. 2013. Sci Total Environ., v. 461-462, p.712–22.

OPS (Organización Panamericana de la Salud). Observatorio Internacional de Capacidades Humanas, Desarrollo y Políticas Públicas. 2015. Available at: http://capacidadeshumanas.org/oichsite/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/OICH_Estudios-y-An--lisis2.pdf

Ort C, van Nuijs ALN, Berset JD, Bijlsma L, Castiglioni S, Covaci A, de Voogt P, Emke E, Fatta-Kassinos D, Griffiths P, Hernández F, González-Mariño I, Grabic R, Kasprzyk-Hordern B, Mastroianni N, Meierjohann A, Nefau T, Östman M, Pico Y, Racamonde I, Reid M, Slobodnik J, Terzic S, Thomaidis N, Thomas KV. 2014. Spatial differences and temporal changes in illicit drug use in Europe quantified by wastewater analysis. Addiction, v. 109, p. 1338–1352.

Plósz BG, Reid MJ, Borup M, Langford KH, Thomas KV. 2013. Biotransformation kinetics and sorption of cocaine and its metabolites and the factors influencing their estimation in wastewater. Water Res., v. 47, p. 2129–2140.

Postigo C, Alda ML, Barceló D. 2011. Evaluation of drugs of abuse use and trends in a prison through wastewater analysis. Environ. Int., v. 37, p.49–55.

Schröder HF, Gebhardt W, Thevis M. 2010. Anabolic, doping, and lifestyle drugs, and selected metabolites in wastewater—detection, quantification, and behaviour monitored by high-resolution MS and MSn before and after sewage treatment. Anal Bioanal Chem., v.398, p.1207–1229.

Thomas KV, Bijlsma L, Castiglioni S, Covaci A, Emke E, Grabic R, Hernández F, Karolak S, Kasprzyk-Hordern B, Lindberg RH, Lopez de Alda M, Meierjohann A, Ort C, Pico Y, Quintana JB, Reid M, Rieckermann J, Terzic S, van Nuijs ALN, de Voogt P. 2012. Comparing illicit drug use in 19 European cities through sewage analysis. Sci. Total Environ., v. 432, p. 432–439.

UNODC (United Nations Office on drugs and crime). World Drug Report 2016. United Nations publication, Sales No. E.16.XI.7, 2016.

UNODC (United Nations Office on drugs and crime). World Drug Report 2017. United Nations publication, Sales No. E.16.XI.7, 2017.

van Nuijs ALN, Mougel J-F, Tarcomnicu I, Bervoets L, Blust R, Jorens PG, Neels H, Covaci A. 2011. Sewage epidemiology – a real-time approach to estimate the consumption of illicit drugs in Brussels, Belgium. Environ Int., v. 37, p. 612-621.

Whiteford HA, Degenhardt L, Rehm J, Baxter AJ, Ferrari AJ, Erskine HE, Charlson FJ, Norman RE, Flaxman AD, Johns N, Burstein R, Christopher JL, Murray CJL, Vos T. 2013. Global burden of disease attributable to mental and substance use disorders: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. The Lancet, v. 382, n. 9904, p. 1575-1586.

WHO (World Health Organization) 1987. The rational use of drugs: report of the conference of experts. Available at: http://www.who.int/iris/handle/10665/37174

WHO (World Health Organization) 2018. Health topics: substance abuse. Available at: https://www.who.int/topics/substance_abuse/en/

Yadav MK, Short MD, Aryal R, Gerber C, van den Akker B, Saint CP. 2017. Occurrence of illicit drugs in water and wastewater, and their removal during wastewater treatment. Water Research, v. S0043-1354, n. 17, p. 30641-30643.

Zuccato E, Chiabrando C, Castiglioni S, Bagnati R, Fanelli R. 2008. Estimating community drug abuse by wastewater analysis. Environ Health Perspect., v. 116, p. 1027-32.

Zuccato E, Chiabrando C, Castiglioni S, Calamari D, Bagnati R, Schiarea S, Fanelli R. Cocaine in surface waters: a new evidence-based tool to monitor community drug abuse. 2005. Environmental Health: A Global Access Science Source, v. 4, p. 1–7.

Downloads

Published

2020-03-31 — Updated on 2021-05-20

Versions

How to Cite

FERREIRA, A. P. Drugs of abuse and metabolites in urban wastewater: a case study, municipality of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Gaia Scientia, [S. l.], v. 14, n. 1, 2021. DOI: 10.22478/ufpb.1981-1268.2020v14n1.46070. Disponível em: https://periodicos.ufpb.br/index.php/gaia/article/view/46070. Acesso em: 19 dec. 2024.

Issue

Section

Ciências Ambientais