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Occurrence, distribution and risk assessment of abused drugs and their metabolites in a typical urban river in north China

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Abstract

This study investigated the presence of 11 abused drugs and their metabolites, including amphetamine, methamphetamine (METH), ketamine, ephedrine (EPH), cocaine, benzoylecgonine, methadone, morphine, heroin, codeine, and methcathinone in the surface water and sediment samples of Beiyunhe River, a typical urban river flowing through Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei provinces in North China. An analytical method of determining these abused drugs and their metabolites in water and sediment was developed and validated prior to sample collection in the study area. Results showed that METH and EPH were predominant in water and sediment samples. The total drug concentrations ranged from 26.6 to 183.0 ng/L in water and from 2.6 to 32.4 ng/g dry weight in sediment, and the drugs mainly originated from hospitals and sewage treatment plants. The average field-based sediment water distribution coefficients of abused drugs were calculated between 149.3 and 1214.0 L/kg and corrected by organic carbon. Quotient method was used to assess the risks. The findings revealed that these drugs and their metabolites at determined concentrations in water samples will not impair the aquatic ecosystem biologically, but their potential harmful effect on the function of the ecosystem and human health should not be overlooked.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the Major Science and Technology Program for Water Pollution Control and Treatment (No. 2017ZX07302001) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41673120).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, 100012, China

    Peng Hu, Changsheng Guo, Yan Zhang, Jiapei Lv, Yuan Zhang & Jian Xu

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  1. Peng Hu
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  2. Changsheng Guo
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  3. Yan Zhang
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  4. Jiapei Lv
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  5. Yuan Zhang
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  6. Jian Xu
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Correspondence to Jian Xu.

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Highlights

• We developed a method for determining 11 abused drugs in water and sediment.

• METH and EPH were the dominant drugs in water and sediment in Beiyunhe River.

• Abuse drugs in Beiyunhe River were mainly from hospitals and sewage effluents.

• Abused drugs in the water would not impair the aquatic ecosystem biologically.

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Hu, P., Guo, C., Zhang, Y. et al. Occurrence, distribution and risk assessment of abused drugs and their metabolites in a typical urban river in north China. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng. 13, 56 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-019-1140-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-019-1140-5

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