Antidepressant Pharmaceuticals in Two U.S. Effluent-Impacted Streams: Occurrence and Fate in Water and Sediment, and Selective Uptake in Fish Neural Tissue

Abstract

Antidepressant pharmaceuticals are widely prescribed in the United States; release of municipal wastewater effluent is a primary route introducing them to aquatic environments, where little is known about their distribution and fate. Water, bed sediment, and brain tissue from native white suckers (Catostomus commersoni) were collected upstream and at points progressively downstream from outfalls discharging to two effluent-impacted streams, Boulder Creek (Colorado) and Fourmile Creek (Iowa). A liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry method was used to quantify antidepressants, including fluoxetine, norfluoxetine (degradate), sertraline, norsertraline (degradate), paroxetine, citalopram, fluvoxamine, duloxetine, venlafaxine, and bupropion in all three sample matrices. Antidepressants were not present above the limit of quantitation in water samples upstream from the effluent outfalls but were present at points downstream at ng/L concentrations, even at the farthest downstream sampling site 8.4 km downstream from the outfall. The antidepressants with the highest measured concentrations in both streams were venlafaxine, bupropion, and citalopram and typically were observed at concentrations of at least an order of magnitude greater than the more commonly investigated antidepressants fluoxetine and sertraline. Concentrations of antidepressants in bed sediment were measured at ng/g levels; venlafaxine and fluoxetine were the predominant chemicals observed. Fluoxetine, sertraline, and their degradates were the principal antidepressants observed in fish brain tissue, typically at low ng/g concentrations. A qualitatively different antidepressant profile was observed in brain tissue compared to streamwater samples. This study documents that wastewater effluent can be a point source of antidepressants to stream ecosystems and that the qualitative composition of antidepressants in brain tissue from exposed fish differs substantially from the compositions observed in streamwater and sediment, suggesting selective uptake.

Reproductive health of yellow perch Perca flavescens in selected tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay

“…The mechanisms of effects for many of these chemicals are through the endocrine system and hence, importance of the endocrine-modulating effects of legacy compounds such as PCBs and organochlorine pesticides has also been recognized (Colburn and Thayer, 2000;Guillette, 2006). The potential for adverse effects to aquatic resources of neurotransmitter receptor agonist/antagonist exposure from human pharmaceutical use exists (Villenuve et al, 2010a,b;Schultz et al, 2011), particularly since the presence of these pharmaceuticals has been demonstrated in fish brain tissue (Brooks et al, 2005;Schultz et al, 2010). Exposure of zebrafish to a mixture of pharmaceuticals (carbamazepine, fenofibrate, propranolol hydrochloride, sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim) at environmentally relevant concentrations resulted in ovaries with less mature oocytes (Madureira et al, 2011).…”

Contaminants of legacy and emerging concern in largescale suckers (Catostomus macrocheilus) and the foodweb in the lower Columbia River, Oregon and Washington, USA

“…In some species of vertebrates, PBDEs alter thyroid function, reduce sperm counts, and delay sperm maturation by interfering with androgen synthesis (Kuriyama et al, 2005). Contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), which include PBDEs, are present in many waters of the U.S. (Kolpin et al, 2002;Focazio et al, 2008), including effluent reaching the Columbia River (Morace, 2012) and in sediments of the LCR , and some of those compounds accumulate in fish tissue (Brooks et al, 2005;Ramirez et al, 2009;Schultz et al, 2010).…”

Upgrading of Wastewater Treatment Plants Through the Use of Unconventional Treatment Technologies: Removal of Lidocaine, Tramadol, Venlafaxine and Their Metabolites

“…Recent studies have demonstrated the presence of these compounds and their metabolites in some rivers and lakes in Europe and North America [6,8,27,28]. So far, studies concerning the removal of the compounds through unconventional technologies are scarce [14,29,30].…”