Presence and toxicity of drugs used to treat SARS-CoV-2 in Llobregat River, Catalonia, Spain.

Abstract

COVID-19 disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus was declared global pandemic in March 2020 causing millions of deaths. An evident tendency of global pharmaceutical consumption due to COVID-19 pandemic should be seen worldwide and this increase might suppose an environmental threat. Pharmaceuticals administrated at home or in pharmacies are excreted by faces and urine after consumption and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are not capable to remove all pharmaceuticals residues that eventually will end up in the aquatic media (rivers and sea). For this reason, analytical techniques such as liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) have become prominent to identify and quantify pharmaceuticals residues in aquatic matrices. In view of the scarce data on the occurrence of pharmaceuticals used as COVID-19 treatment, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the presence of these class of pharmaceuticals in river water which were dexamethasone, prednisone, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, remdesivir, ritonavir, lopinavir, acetaminophen, hydroxychloroquine, chloroquine and cloperastine, their toxicity in the aquatic environment using D. magna and to perform an exhaustive risk assessment in seven points of the Llobregat river basin.