title: Drugs of abuse in urban groundwater. A case study: Barcelona.
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.
authors.affiliation: GHS, Institute of Environmental Assessment & Water Research, IDAEA, CSIC, Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034 Barcelona, Spain. annajuradoelices@gmail.com
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jurado
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mastroianni
authors.forename: Enric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vàzquez-Suñé
authors.forename: Jesus
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Carrera
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tubau
authors.forename: Estanislao
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pujades
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Postigo
authors.forename: Miren López
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: de Alda
authors.forename: Damià
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Barceló
mesh_terms: D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D002947:Cities; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D060587:Groundwater / Q000032:analysis*; D013287:Illicit Drugs / Q000032:analysis*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D012621:Seasons; D052616:Solid Phase Extraction; D013030:Spain; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D013287:Illicit Drugs; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical