Davey Charlie J E, Hartelust Anne Kiki, Helmus Rick, Praetorius Antonia, van Wezel Annemarie P, Ter Laak Thomas L
Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
KWR Water Research Institute, Nieuwegein, the Netherlands.
Environ Toxicol Chem. 2025 Feb 1;44(2):375-385. doi: 10.1093/etojnl/vgae042.
Psychopharmaceuticals are used to treat psychological disorders and other conditions relating to the nervous system and are known to affect nontarget organisms at low concentrations. Their occurrence in the water cycle remains an understudied topic, with data lacking for many compounds, and risks not accounted for in removal targets. Therefore, this study aimed to provide insights into the presence, removal, and risks of psychopharmaceuticals in wastewater. Furthermore, the use of risk assessment in the context of proposed legislation is discussed. Thirty highly used psychopharmaceuticals were studied during 1 week in the wastewater of the Amsterdam West Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) using solid phase extraction and ultra high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time of flight-high resolution mass spectrometry. Twenty target compounds were detected in the influent (17 ng-99 µg/L) and 16 in the effluent (34 ng/L-17 µg/L). Removal efficiencies during treatment ranged from 24% to >99%. Paracetamol, amphetamine, fluoxetine, levetiracetam, phenacetin, and sertraline demonstrated almost complete removal, whereas tramadol, lidocaine, lamotrigine, fluvoxamine, and carbamazepine had removals below 50%, with lidocaine demonstrating the lowest removal (24%). Utilizing existing ecotoxicity data, a preliminary risk assessment was performed to contextualize the calculated removal efficiencies. Here, sertraline and ibuprofen still demonstrated a potential risk, despite high removal efficiencies of both compounds. This study highlights that wastewater contains abundant numbers and ecotoxicologically relevant concentrations of psychopharmaceuticals that are insufficiently removed by the WWTP. The implementation of risk-based removal targets in legislation is discussed to facilitate the reduction in emissions of psychopharmaceuticals, for example, by adequate WWTP upgrades with advanced treatments to ensure a toxic-free environment.
精神药物用于治疗心理障碍和其他与神经系统有关的病症，并且已知在低浓度下会影响非目标生物。它们在水循环中的出现仍然是一个研究不足的课题，许多化合物缺乏相关数据，并且去除目标中未考虑风险。因此，本研究旨在深入了解废水中精神药物的存在、去除情况和风险。此外，还讨论了在拟议立法背景下风险评估的应用。在一周时间内，使用固相萃取和超高效液相色谱 - 四极杆飞行时间 - 高分辨率质谱法，对阿姆斯特丹西部污水处理厂（WWTP）废水中30种常用精神药物进行了研究。在进水（17纳克 - 99微克/升）中检测到20种目标化合物，在出水（34纳克/升 - 17微克/升）中检测到16种。处理过程中的去除效率范围为24%至>99%。对乙酰氨基酚、苯丙胺、氟西汀、左乙拉西坦、非那西丁和舍曲林几乎完全去除，而曲马多、利多卡因、拉莫三嗪、氟伏沙明和卡马西平的去除率低于50%，其中利多卡因的去除率最低（24%）。利用现有的生态毒性数据，进行了初步风险评估，以将计算出的去除效率置于背景中。在此，尽管舍曲林和布洛芬的去除效率都很高，但它们仍显示出潜在风险。本研究强调，废水中含有大量且具有生态毒理学相关浓度的精神药物，污水处理厂对其去除不充分。讨论了在立法中实施基于风险的去除目标，以促进精神药物排放的减少，例如通过对污水处理厂进行适当升级并采用先进处理方法，以确保无有毒环境。
