Biosciences Institute, São Paulo State University, São Vicente, São Paulo, Brazil.
Department of Ecotoxicology, Santa Cecília University, Santos, São Paulo, Brazil.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2020 Sep;27(25):30998-31034. doi: 10.1007/s11356-020-08375-2. Epub 2020 May 2.
Illicit drugs (IDs) and their metabolites are recognized as contaminants of emerging concern. After consumption, illicit drugs are partially metabolized and excreted unchanged in urine and feces or as active metabolites reaching wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Furthermore, most WWTPs are insufficient in the treatment of effluents containing IDs, which may be released into aquatic ecosystems. Once in the water or sediment, these substances may interact and affect non-target organisms and some evidences suggest that illicit drugs may exhibit pseudo-persistence because of a continuous environmental input, resulting in long-term exposure to aquatic organisms that may be negatively affected by these biologically active compounds. We reviewed the literature on origin and consumption, human metabolism after consumption, aquatic occurrences, and toxicity of the major groups of illicit drugs (opioids, cannabis, synthetic drugs, and cocaine). As a result, it could be concluded that illicit drugs and their metabolites are widespread in diverse aquatic ecosystems in levels able to trigger sublethal effects to non-target organisms, besides to concentrate in seafood. This class of emerging contaminants represents a new environmental concern to academics, managers, and policymakers, whose would be able to assess risks and identify proper responses to reduce environmental impacts.
非法药物（IDs）及其代谢物被认为是新出现的关注污染物。摄入后，非法药物部分代谢并以原形从尿液和粪便中排出，或作为活性代谢物进入废水处理厂（WWTP）。此外，大多数 WWTP 在处理含有 IDs 的废水方面存在不足，这些物质可能会被释放到水生生态系统中。一旦进入水或沉积物中，这些物质可能会相互作用并影响非目标生物，并且有一些证据表明，由于持续的环境输入，非法药物可能表现出假性持久性，从而导致水生生物长期暴露于这些具有生物活性的化合物中，可能会受到负面影响。我们回顾了主要类型的非法药物（阿片类药物、大麻、合成药物和可卡因）的来源和消费、人类消费后的代谢、水生出现情况以及毒性的文献。结果表明，非法药物及其代谢物在各种水生生态系统中广泛存在，其水平能够对非目标生物产生亚致死效应，此外还会在海鲜中浓缩。这一类新兴污染物对学术界、管理者和决策者构成了新的环境关注，他们能够评估风险并确定适当的应对措施，以减少对环境的影响。
