Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, 100871 Beijing, PR China.
Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, 100871 Beijing, PR China.
Sci Total Environ. 2021 Aug 20;783:146961. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146961. Epub 2021 Apr 7.
Areca nut is a widely used psychoactive product that can cause multiple health problems, such as oral and pharyngeal cancers. Therefore, it is important to estimate areca nut use and the exposure levels of areca alkaloids that are responsible for its health effects. China is a major producer of areca nut and has a large number of areca nut chewers. In this study, occurrence of areca alkaloids and metabolites in wastewater of major cities across China was examined via wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE). Arecoline, arecaidine, and their metabolite, N-methylnipecotic acid (NMNA) were detected in the overwhelming majority of wastewater samples, with concentrations up to several μg/L. In contrast, guvacoline was only occasionally detected and guvacine was below detection limit in all samples, possibly due to their low contents in areca nut products, low excretion rates, and/or low stability in sewer systems. Strong positive correlations existed between arecoline, arecaidine, and NMNA concentrations. In addition, their loads were much higher in Central and Southern China. This geographic pattern is consistent with previous survey results on prevalence of areca nut chewing. These results indicate that WBE is a potentially useful method to monitor areca nut consumption and to estimate the exposure levels of areca alkaloids.
槟榔是一种广泛使用的精神活性物质，会导致多种健康问题，例如口腔和咽喉癌。因此，评估槟榔的使用情况以及导致其健康影响的槟榔碱的暴露水平非常重要。中国是槟榔的主要产地，有大量的槟榔咀嚼者。本研究采用基于污水的流行病学（WBE）方法，检测了中国主要城市污水中的槟榔碱和代谢物的发生情况。在绝大多数污水样本中都检测到了槟榔碱、槟榔次碱及其代谢物 N-甲基胡椒基酸（NMNA），浓度高达数μg/L。相比之下，瓜儿豆碱仅偶尔被检测到，并且在所有样本中都低于检测限，这可能是由于其在槟榔制品中的含量低、排泄率低和/或在污水系统中的稳定性低。槟榔碱、槟榔次碱和 NMNA 浓度之间存在很强的正相关关系。此外，它们的负荷在中国中南部地区要高得多。这种地理模式与之前关于槟榔咀嚼流行率的调查结果一致。这些结果表明，WBE 是一种监测槟榔消费和评估槟榔碱暴露水平的潜在有用方法。
