Illicit drugs and their metabolites in 36 rivers that drain into the Bohai Sea and north Yellow Sea, north China

Abstract

Illicit drugs and their metabolites have recently been recognized as an emerging group of contaminants due to their potential ecotoxicological impact in aquatic ecosystems. To date, information on the occurrence of these compounds in the aquatic environment of China remains limited. In this study, we collected surface water samples from 36 rivers in north China that discharge into the Bohai Sea and north Yellow Sea and measured the concentrations of amphetamine-like compounds, ketamines, cocainics, and opioids. The occurrence and spatial patterns of these substances show significant differences between the rivers and regions. Two designer drugs, methamphetamine (METH) and ketamine (KET), were the most abundant compounds detected in the entire set of samples (detection frequency of 92 and 69 %). The concentrations of METH and KET ranged from <0.1 to 42.0 ng L −1 (mean = 4.53 ng L −1 ) and <0.05 to 4.50 ng L −1 (mean = 0.49 ng L −1 ), respectively. The high detection frequencies of METH and KET are consistent with the fact that they are the main illicit drugs consumed in China. The high concentrations of these illicit drugs and their metabolites were found in areas that have a high population density. The riverine input of total illicit drugs into the Bohai Sea and north Yellow Sea was estimated to be in the range of 684 to 1160 kg per year.

Target, Suspect and Non-Target Screening of Silylated Derivatives of Polar Compounds Based on Single Ion Monitoring GC-MS

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Drugs of abuse and their metabolites in the urban rivers of Beijing, China: Occurrence, distribution, and potential environmental risk

“…In Huangpu River in Shanghai, caffeine, cotinine, and paraxanthine were detected with high detection frequency and concentrations, whereas the levels of other illicit drugs, such as pseudoephedrine, benzoylecgonine, and methadone, ranged from below the limit of detection (LOD) to several tens of ng L -1 (Yao et al, 2016). Wang et al (2016) found that METH and KET were the most abundant compounds in 36 rivers that are drained into the Bohai Sea and the north Yellow Sea. In 49 lakes and four major rivers (i.e., Yellow River, Songhua River, Pearl River, and Yangtze River) in China, the concentrations of METH, AMP, KET, and some other drugs were measured (Li et al, 2016).…”