Anabolic, doping, and lifestyle drugs, and selected metabolites in wastewater—detection, quantification, and behaviour monitored by high-resolution MS and MS n before and after sewage treatment

Abstract

Municipal wastewater has been examined for steroids, beta(2)-agonists, stimulants, diuretics, and phosphodiesterase type V inhibitors (PDE type V inhibitors), which are "dual-use-drugs" applied either as anabolic, doping, and lifestyle drugs or for treatment of diverse diseases. To identify their origin, fitness centre discharges under suspicion of being point sources and sewage-treatment plant feed and effluents were sampled and concentrations determined. Sensitive and selective methods for determination and quantification based on solid-phase extraction (SPE) followed by high-performance liquid chromatography-high resolution mass and tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-(HR)MS and HPLC-MS-MS) were developed and established for analysis of these compounds in wastewater and to assess their effect on the environment. The methods developed enabled quantification at trace concentrations (limit of quantification (LOQ): 5 ng L(-1)). Of the steroids and stimulants under investigation, testosterone, methyltestosterone, and boldenone or ephedrine, amphetamine, and MDMA (3,4-methylendioxy-N-methylamphetamine) were observed at up to 5 microg L(-1) (ephedrine). Of the beta(2)-agonists salbutamol only, and of the diuretics furosemide and hydrochlorothiazide were confirmed in the extracts. Quite high concentrations of the PDE type V inhibitors sildenafil, tadalafil, and vardenafil and their metabolites were confirmed in fitness centre discharges (sildenafil: 1,945 ng L(-1)) whereas their concentrations in municipal wastewater did not exceed 35 ng L(-1). This study identified anabolic and doping drugs in wastewater for the first time. Results obtained from wastewater treatment plant effluents proved that these "dual-use-drugs", with the exception of hydrochlorothiazide, were mostly eliminated.

Occurrence of organic microcontaminants in the wastewater treatment process. A mini review

“…Furthermore, Katsoyiannis and Jones [64] suggested that epidemiology approaches similar to those for IDs should be applied to allow sports authorities to understand and tackle the consumption levels of doping substances. These compounds were found by Schroder et al [21] to be removed at levels up to ∼100% during conventional activated sludge treatment.…”

“…It is difficult to discuss typical concentration levels (Table 1) of PPCPs as these can range from hundreds of pg/L up to hundreds of g/L [13,15,[19][20][21][22][23][24][25], depending on the target PPCP and the type of wastewater. Other important factors that play a role in the occurring levels are the types of products that can be found in the pharmaceutical market in each country, or the possibility in some countries to purchase medicines without a medical prescription [15].…”

“…In 2010, Schroder et al [21] published a study which for the first time presented concentrations of prohibited doping substances (steroids, ␤2-agonists, stimulants, diuretic agents, and PDE V inhibitors) in the effluents of a sports centre, but also in large municipal WWTPs. Chemicals like testosterone, boldenone, ephedrine or stanozol were studied, and for some of these, the levels in the municipal WWTPs had reached values even in the levels of g/L (i.e.…”

Neuropsychiatric pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs in wastewater treatment plants: a review

“…[3] In treatment plants from Aachen, Germany, ephedrine was found at concentrations ranging from ,2 to 6 ng L À1 in influents (Table 21). [93] A concentration as high as 6900 ng L À1 was reported for ephedrine in influent samples collected from seven treatment plants in the USA (Table 21). [25] The high levels of ephedrine likely reflect prescription use.…”

“…Thus far, the methodology has been mainly applied for illicit drugs such as cocaine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, MDMA, methadone, heroin and D 9 -THCA. [110,111,[113][114][115][116][117][118][119][120][121][122][123][124][125][126] The critical parameters needed for the calculation of usage of a specific drug are drug concentration in wastewater influents, an adequate knowledge of the pharmacokinetics of the drug, information on the population [103] Influents (12 treatment plants) Germany Primidone: -Median: 440 [83] Effluents (12 treatment plants) Primidone: -Median: 420 [3] Effluents (7 treatment plants) Ephedrine: -Median: 92 Influents Germany Ephedrine: 2-6 - [93] Influents (7 treatment plants) USA Ephedrine: max. 6900 ng L À1 - [25] Dissolved phase UK Ephedrine: 501-1080 - [85] Pseudoephedrine: not detected -Particulate matter of wastewater influents Drugs in wastewater treatment plants served by the treatment plant, and the daily flows of sewage into the plant.…”