Environmental risk assessment of psychoactive drugs in the aquatic environment. 2019

Deivisson L Cunha, and Maíra P Mendes, and Marcia Marques
Department of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering, Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ), R. São Francisco Xavier, 524, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, CEP 20550-900, Brazil. deivisson_cunha@uerj.br.

The consumption of psychoactive pharmaceuticals has increased worldwide, and wastewater treatment plants are not able to eliminate them from the effluent. An extensive review was carried out to assess the environmental risk (ERA model) based on secondary data about potential impacts on non-target organisms of seven psychoactive drugs consumed worldwide (alprazolam, bromazepam, citalopram, clonazepam, diazepam, lorazepam, and oxazepam). Risk quotients (RQs) were calculated according to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on ERA of Medicinal Products For Human Use based on (i) the predicted and measured environmental concentrations (PEC and MEC, respectively) of the psychoactive drug in surface water, groundwater, and wastewater effluent and (ii) the predicted no-effect concentration (PNEC) derived from ecotoxicological assays or ECOSAR software. Furthermore, this study reviews and discusses non-standardized ecotoxicity assays, such as sublethal and behavioral effects on different organisms. In total, 903 MEC entries of psychoactive drugs and 162 data on ecotoxicological assays were gathered from the literature survey addressing behavioral effects (115), acute/chronic effects (35), and sublethal effects (12). Citalopram and diazepam were the only substances that are likely to pose an environmental risk (RQ > 1) to surface waters. Even though there is considerable amount of data on behavioral effects of psychoactive drugs to aquatic species, results are currently not integrated into the EMA risk assessment framework. The large amount of data on psychoactive drug concentrations and effects on non-target organisms collected, interpreted, and discussed in the present study should be used as a baseline for future improvement of ERA strategies.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D011619 Psychotropic Drugs A loosely defined grouping of drugs that have effects on psychological function. Here the psychotropic agents include the antidepressive agents, hallucinogens, and tranquilizing agents (including the antipsychotics and anti-anxiety agents). Psychoactive Agent,Psychoactive Agents,Psychoactive Drug,Psychopharmaceutical,Psychopharmaceuticals,Psychotropic Drug,Psychoactive Drugs,Agent, Psychoactive,Agents, Psychoactive,Drug, Psychoactive,Drug, Psychotropic,Drugs, Psychoactive,Drugs, Psychotropic
D004784 Environmental Monitoring The monitoring of the level of toxins, chemical pollutants, microbial contaminants, or other harmful substances in the environment (soil, air, and water), workplace, or in the bodies of people and animals present in that environment. Monitoring, Environmental,Environmental Surveillance,Surveillance, Environmental
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D014874 Water Pollutants, Chemical Chemical compounds which pollute the water of rivers, streams, lakes, the sea, reservoirs, or other bodies of water. Chemical Water Pollutants,Landfill Leachate,Leachate, Landfill,Pollutants, Chemical Water
D054750 Ecotoxicology The study of ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION and the toxic effects of ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANTS on the ECOSYSTEM. The term was coined by Truhaut in 1969. Environmental Toxicology,Environmental Toxicologies,Toxicologies, Environmental,Toxicology, Environmental
D060587 Groundwater Liquid water present beneath the surface of the earth. Aquifers,Ground Water,Ground-Water,Subterranean Lakes,Underground Lakes,Underground Streams,Underground Water,Water Table,Aquifer,Ground Waters,Ground-Waters,Groundwaters,Lake, Subterranean,Lake, Underground,Lakes, Subterranean,Lakes, Underground,Stream, Underground,Streams, Underground,Subterranean Lake,Table, Water,Tables, Water,Underground Lake,Underground Stream,Underground Waters,Water Tables,Water, Underground,Waters, Underground
D062065 Wastewater Contaminated water generated as a waste product of human activity. Waste Water,Waste Waters,Wastewaters,Water, Waste,Waters, Waste
D018570 Risk Assessment The qualitative or quantitative estimation of the likelihood of adverse effects that may result from exposure to specified health hazards or from the absence of beneficial influences. (Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 1988) Assessment, Risk,Benefit-Risk Assessment,Risk Analysis,Risk-Benefit Assessment,Health Risk Assessment,Risks and Benefits,Analysis, Risk,Assessment, Benefit-Risk,Assessment, Health Risk,Assessment, Risk-Benefit,Benefit Risk Assessment,Benefit-Risk Assessments,Benefits and Risks,Health Risk Assessments,Risk Analyses,Risk Assessment, Health,Risk Assessments,Risk Benefit Assessment,Risk-Benefit Assessments

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