Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1799 Jimei Road, Xiamen, 361021, China.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2013 Dec;20(12):8391-403. doi: 10.1007/s11356-013-1871-y. Epub 2013 Jun 14.
Pharmaceutical compounds were increasingly detected in environmental matrices but little is known whether these compounds would transport to coastal zones via watersheds. Three typical tidal rivers in southeastern China were selected and 15 surface sediment samples (0-10 cm) were collected along a 50-km tidal section of each river. Surface sediment samples were frozen-drying and then extracted for pharmaceutical compounds by an accelerated solvent extraction system. The pharmaceutical compounds in extracts were scanned using a high-performance liquid chromatography/tandern mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). Three hundred and thirty compounds from nine pharmaceutical groups were detected with signal-to-noise above three (detectable level) in the surface sediments, of which 186 compounds were with a signal-to-noise above ten (measurable level). Of all, 291 and 80 compounds were detectable and measurable in all the three rivers, respectively. The Jiulong River showed a high load of pharmaceutical compounds in surface sediment than other two rivers. Of the nine pharmaceutical groups, the antihistamines and detoxification group and anti-infective drug group contributed five dominant compounds in the surface sediments in all the three rivers. Natures of pharmaceutical compounds rather than the sediment properties (pH, EC, and total carbon content) might influence their residues. The incredible number and intensity of pharmaceutical residues were detected in tidal surface sediments of the three rivers indicating that the pharmaceutical contamination should be strongly considered in China. Source identification and eco-toxicity assessment should be taken into account in the future study. Therapeutic medicine managements need to be strictly improved at a watershed scale to reduce loads of pharmaceuticals into aquatic ecosystems.
药品化合物越来越多地在环境基质中被检测到，但人们对这些化合物是否会通过流域输送到沿海地区知之甚少。选择了中国东南部的三条典型潮汐河流，并沿每条河流的 50 公里潮汐段采集了 15 个表层沉积物样本（0-10 厘米）。表层沉积物样本经过冷冻干燥，然后用加速溶剂萃取系统提取药品化合物。提取物中的药品化合物通过高效液相色谱/串联质谱（HPLC-MS/MS）进行扫描。在表层沉积物中，从九种药品组中检测到 330 种化合物，其信号噪声比超过三（可检测水平），其中 186 种化合物的信号噪声比超过十（可测量水平）。在所有这三种河流中，分别有 291 种和 80 种化合物是可检测和可测量的。与其他两条河流相比，九龙江表层沉积物中的药品化合物负荷较高。在九种药品组中，抗组胺和解毒组和抗感染药物组在所有三条河流的表层沉积物中贡献了五种主要化合物。药品化合物的性质而不是沉积物性质（pH、EC 和总碳含量）可能影响它们的残留。在三条河流的潮汐表层沉积物中检测到数量惊人且强度高的药品残留，表明在中国应强烈考虑药品污染问题。在未来的研究中，应考虑来源识别和生态毒性评估。需要在流域尺度上严格改进治疗药物管理，以减少药品进入水生生态系统的负荷。
