title: Presence of illicit drugs and metabolites in influents and effluents of 25 sewage water treatment plants and map of drug consumption in France.
abstract: Consumption of illicit drugs is a new concern for water management that must be considered not only because of the social and public health aspects but also in an environmental context in relation with the contamination of surface waters. Indeed, sewage treatment plant (STP) effluents contain drug residues that have not been eliminated since STP treatments are not completely efficient in their removal. We developed and validated an HPLC-MS/MS analytical method to assess the concentrations of 17 illicit drugs and metabolites in raw urban wastewaters: cocaine and its metabolites, amphetamine and amphetamine-likes (methamphetamine, MDMA, MDEA, MDA), opiates and opiate substitutes (methadone and buprenorphine), and THC-COOH cannabis metabolite. This method has been applied to the analysis of influent and effluent samples from 25 STPs located in France all over the country. The results allowed evaluating the drug consumption in the areas connected to the STPs and the efficiency of the treatment technology implied. We selected STPs according to their volume capacity, their treatment technologies (biofilters, activated sludges, MBR) and their geographical location. In influents, the concentrations varied between 6 ng/L for EDDP (main metabolite of methadone) and 3050 ng/L for benzoylecgonine (cocaine metabolite). Consumption maps were drawn for cocaine, MDMA, opiates, cannabis and amphetamine-like compounds. Geographical significant differences were observed and highlighted the fact that drug consumption inside a country is not homogeneous. In parallel, comparisons between STP technology processes showed differences of efficiency. More, some compounds appear very resistant to STP processes leading to the contamination of receiving water.
authors.affiliation: Univ. Paris Sud/UMR CNRS 8079, Public Health & Environment Group, France. thomas.nefau@u-psud.fr
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nefau
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Karolak
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Castillo
authors.forename: Véronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Boireau
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Levi
mesh_terms: D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005602:France; D062305:Geographic Mapping; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000600:supply & distribution; D052616:Solid Phase Extraction; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000379:methods*; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D013287:Illicit Drugs; D062065:Wastewater
keywords: Drug consumption; HPLC–MS/MS analysis; Illicit drug; Removal; Wastewater