Wolfson Carbon Capture Lab, Bangor University, Bangor, Wales, UK.
Centre for Environmental Biotechnology, Bangor University, Deiniol Rd, Bangor, LL57 2UW, UK.
Environ Res. 2022 Mar;204(Pt B):112061. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2021.112061. Epub 2021 Sep 17.
Reported high drug use at music festivals coupled with factors such as public urination can lead to the direct release of illicit drugs into the environment. Glastonbury Festival 2019 had 203,000 attendees, its site is intercepted by the Whitelake River providing a direct route for illicit drug pollution into the local environment. We tested for popular illicit drugs such as cocaine and MDMA in the river upstream and downstream of the festival site as well as in the neighbouring Redlake River. Both rivers were sampled the weeks before, during and after the festival. Cocaine, benzoylecgonine and MDMA were found at all sample sites; concentrations, and mass loads (mass carried by the river per unit of time) were significantly higher in the Whitelake site, downstream of the festival. MDMA mass loads were 104 times greater downstream in comparison to upstream sites (1.1-61.0 mg/h vs 114.7 mg/h; p < .01). Cocaine and benzoylecgonine mass loads were also 40 times higher downstream of the festival (1.3-4.2 mg/h vs 50.4 mg/h; p < .01) (22.7-81.4 mg/h vs 854.6 mg/h; p < .01). MDMA reached its highest level during the weekend after the festival with a concentration of 322 ng/L. This concentration is deemed harmful to aquatic life using Risk Quotient assessment (RQ) and provides evidence of continuous release after the festival due to leaching of MDMA from the site. Cocaine and benzoylecgonine concentrations were not at levels deemed harmful to aquatic life according to RQ assessment yet were three times higher than MDMA concentrations. Redlake River experienced no significant changes (p > .05) in any illicit drug levels, further confirming that drug release was likely dependent on the festival site. The release of environmentally damaging levels of illicit drugs into Whitelake River during the period of Glastonbury Festival suggests an underreported potential source of environmental contamination from greenfield festival sites.
音乐节报告的高毒品使用率，加上当众小便等因素，可能导致非法药物直接释放到环境中。2019 年格拉斯顿伯里音乐节有 20.3 万名参与者，其场地被怀特雷克河穿过，为非法药物污染当地环境提供了一条直接途径。我们在音乐节场地上下游以及附近的雷德雷克河检测了可卡因和 MDMA 等流行非法药物。两条河都在音乐节前、期间和之后的几周进行了采样。可卡因、苯甲酰爱康宁和 MDMA 在所有采样点均有发现；在怀特雷克河场地（音乐节下游）的浓度和质量负荷（单位时间内被河流携带的质量）明显更高。与上游站点相比，下游的 MDMA 质量负荷高出 104 倍（1.1-61.0mg/h 比 114.7mg/h；p<0.01）。可卡因和苯甲酰爱康宁的质量负荷在音乐节下游也高出 40 倍（1.3-4.2mg/h 比 50.4mg/h；p<0.01）（22.7-81.4mg/h 比 854.6mg/h；p<0.01）。MDMA 在音乐节结束后的周末达到最高水平，浓度为 322ng/L。使用风险商数评估（RQ），该浓度被认为对水生生物有害，并提供了音乐节结束后因 MDMA 从场地浸出而持续释放的证据。根据 RQ 评估，可卡因和苯甲酰爱康宁的浓度没有达到对水生生物有害的水平，但仍比 MDMA 浓度高 3 倍。雷德雷克河没有任何非法药物水平的显著变化（p>0.05），进一步证实药物释放可能依赖于音乐节场地。在格拉斯顿伯里音乐节期间，怀特雷克河释放出具有环境破坏性的非法药物水平，表明从绿地音乐节场地释放的环境污染物是一个潜在的未被充分报道的来源。
