KWR Watercycle Research Institute, P.O. Box 1072, 3430 BB, Nieuwegein, The Netherlands.
Sci Total Environ. 2012 Jun 15;427-428:70-7. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.04.010. Epub 2012 May 1.
Numerous studies describe the presence of pharmaceuticals in the water cycle, while their transformation products are usually not included. In the current study 17 common pharmaceuticals and 9 transformation products were monitored in the Dutch waters, including surface waters, pre-treated surface waters, river bank filtrates, two groundwater samples affected by surface water and drinking waters. In these samples, 12 pharmaceuticals and 7 transformation products were present. Concentrations were generally highest in surface waters, intermediate in treated surface waters and river bank filtrates and lowest or not detected in produced drinking water. However, the concentrations of phenazone and its environmental transformation product AMPH were significantly higher in river bank filtrates, which is likely due to historical contamination. Fairly constant ratios were observed between concentrations of transformation products and parent pharmaceuticals. This might enable prediction of concentrations of transformation products from concentrations of parent pharmaceuticals. The toxicological relevance of the observed pharmaceuticals and transformation products was assessed by deriving (i) a substance specific provisional guideline value (pGLV) and (ii) a group pGLV for groups of related compounds were under the assumption of additivity of effects within each group. A substantial margin exists between the maximum summed concentrations of these compounds present in different water types and the derived (group) pGLVs. Based on the results of this limited screening campaign no adverse health effects of the studied compounds are expected in (sources of) drinking water in the Netherlands. The presence of transformation products with similar pharmacological activities and concentration levels as their parents illustrates the relevance of monitoring transformation products, and including these in risk assessment. More thorough monitoring yielding information on statistical uncertainty and variability in time and space, and research on possible synergistic effects of low concentration mixtures of compounds belonging to similar pharmacological classes require attention.
许多研究描述了药品在水循环中的存在，而它们的转化产物通常不包括在内。在当前的研究中，监测了荷兰水中的 17 种常见药品和 9 种转化产物，包括地表水、预处理地表水、河岸渗滤物、两个受地表水影响的地下水样本和饮用水。在这些样本中，发现了 12 种药品和 7 种转化产物。浓度通常在地表水中最高，在处理过的地表水中和河岸渗滤物中居中，在生产的饮用水中最低或未检出。然而，苯唑酮及其环境转化产物 AMPH 的浓度在河岸渗滤物中明显较高，这可能是由于历史污染造成的。在转化产物和母体药品之间观察到相当恒定的浓度比。这可能使人们能够根据母体药品的浓度来预测转化产物的浓度。通过推导（i）特定物质的暂定指导值（pGLV）和（ii）假定每个组内的效应具有加性的相关化合物组的 pGLV，评估了所观察到的药品和转化产物的毒理学相关性。这些化合物在不同类型水中的最大总浓度与推导的（组）pGLV 之间存在很大差距。根据这项有限筛选活动的结果，预计荷兰（饮用水源）中研究化合物不会产生不良健康影响。具有与其母体相似的药理活性和浓度水平的转化产物的存在说明了监测转化产物的相关性，并将其纳入风险评估的重要性。更全面的监测可以提供关于时间和空间上的统计不确定性和变异性的信息，并需要关注属于类似药理类别的化合物低浓度混合物可能产生的协同效应的研究。
