Core Facility Center 'Arktika', Northern (Arctic) Federal University, Arkhangelsk 163002, Russian Federation.
Core Facility Center 'Arktika', Northern (Arctic) Federal University, Arkhangelsk 163002, Russian Federation.
Sci Total Environ. 2022 Jan 20;805:150380. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150380. Epub 2021 Sep 20.
An indole derivative umifenovir (Arbidol) is one of the most widely used antiviral drugs for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 and some other viral infections. The purpose of the present study was to shed light on the transformation processes of umifenovir in municipal wastewater, including disinfection with active chlorine, as well as to assess the levels of the antiviral drug and its metabolites entering and accumulating in natural reservoirs under conditions of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The combination of high-performance liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization high-resolution mass-spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry was used for tentative identification and quantification of umifenovir and its transformation products in model reaction mixtures and real samples of wastewater, river water, biological sludge and bottom sediments taken at the wastewater treatment plant in Arkhangelsk, a large cultural and industrial center at the Russian North. Laboratory experiments allowed identifying fifteen bromine-containing transformation products, forming at the initial stages of the chlorination and fourteen classic volatile and semi volatile disinfection by-products with bromoform as the dominant one. Chlorinated derivatives are only the minor disinfection by-products forming by substitution of alkylamine group in the aromatic ring. The schemes of umifenovir transformation in reactions with dissolved oxygen and sodium hypochlorite are proposed. Two established primary transformation products formed by oxidation of the thioether group to sulfoxide and elimination of thiophenol were detected in noticeable concentrations in the wastewater together with their precursor. The level of umifenovir reached 1.3 mg kg in the sludge and municipal wastewater treat contained 1 μg L of that drug, while its removal during biological wastewater treatment was about 40%. Pronounced accumulation of umifenovir and its transformation products in biological sludge and bottom sediments of natural reservoirs may be a source of the future secondary pollution of the environment.
一种吲哚衍生物乌米酚（Arbidol）是预防和治疗 COVID-19 和其他一些病毒感染最广泛使用的抗病毒药物之一。本研究的目的是阐明乌米酚在城市废水中的转化过程，包括用活性氯消毒，以及评估在 SARS-CoV-2 大流行条件下，进入和积累在天然水库中的抗病毒药物及其代谢物的水平。本研究采用高效液相色谱与电喷雾电离高分辨质谱和电感耦合等离子体质谱相结合的方法，对模型反应混合物和取自俄罗斯北部大城市阿尔汉格尔斯克市废水处理厂的废水、河水、生物污泥和底泥的实际样品中的乌米酚及其转化产物进行了推测性鉴定和定量分析。实验室实验鉴定出了十五种含溴转化产物，这些产物是在氯化的初始阶段形成的，还有十四种经典的挥发性和半挥发性消毒副产物，其中溴仿是主要产物。氯化衍生物只是在芳香环中取代烷基胺形成的次要消毒副产物。提出了乌米酚在与溶解氧和次氯酸钠反应中的转化方案。在废水中，与前体一起检测到两种已建立的主要转化产物，它们是通过硫醚基团氧化为亚砜和消除硫酚形成的，其浓度较高。污泥和城市废水中的乌米酚水平达到 1.3mg/kg，废水中含有 1μg/L 的该药物，而在生物废水处理过程中，其去除率约为 40%。乌米酚及其转化产物在天然水库的生物污泥和底泥中的明显积累可能是未来环境二次污染的来源。
