Tracking the occurrence of psychotropic pharmaceuticals in Brazilian wastewater treatment plants and surface water, with assessment of environmental risks

Author(s)

Pivetta, Rhannanda Copetti ^[1] ; Rodrigues-Silva, Caio ^[1] ; Ribeiro, Alyson Rogerio ^[1] ; Rath, Susanne ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Estadual Campinas, Dept Analyt Chem, Inst Chem, POB 6154, BR-13084971 Campinas, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Science of The Total Environment; v. 727, JUL 20 2020.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

According to the World Health Organization, >360 million people worldwide suffer from mental diseases such as depression, anxiety, or bipolar disorder, for which psychotropic drugs are frequently prescribed. Despite being highly metabolized in the human organism, non-metabolized portions of these drugs are excreted, subsequently reaching wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), where they may be incompletely removed during treatment, leading to the contamination of surface waters. In this work, ten psychotropic drugs widely consumed in Brazil (alprazolam, amitriptyline, bupropion, carbamazepine, clonazepam, escitalopram, fluoxetine, nortriptyline, sertraline, and trazadone) were monitored at five WWTPs located in the metropolitan region of Campinas (Sao Paulo State, Brazil). The drugs were determined in the influents, at different stages of the treatments, and in the effluents. Surface waters from the Atibaia River and the Anhumas Creek were also monitored. Quantitation of the pharmaceuticalswas carried out by online solid-phase extraction coupledwith ultra-high performance liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry. The method was validated and presented a limit of quantitation of 50 ng L-1 for all the drugs assessed. Six of the substances monitored were quantified in the samples collected from the different treatment processes employed at theWWTPs. These technologies were unable to act as barriers for these psychotropics drugs. The concentrations ranged from 50 to 3000 ng L-1 in the WWTP effluents, while the main contaminants were found in surface waters at concentrations from 25 to 3530 ng L-1. The levels of the psychotropic detected in this work did not appear to present risks to the aquatic biota. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 18/03571-2 - Pharmaceuticals in the Aquatic Environment.
• Grantee: Susanne Rath
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 18/09697-8 - Behavior and prioritization of pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment
• Grantee: Alyson Rogério Ribeiro
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• FAPESP's process: 14/50951-4 - INCT 2014: Advanced Analytical Technologies
• Grantee: Celio Pasquini
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants