[Pharmwaste] New research shows that conventional drinking-watertreatment removes illegal drugs from contaminated water sources.

[Al White]

Deborah:

What  is the final fate of the "sorbed" material, eg. G.A.C. recharge media, 
floculate/ filtrate? In the wastwater community, we refer to this as the 
"conservation of filth"-- filter it out , save it and move it / store it 
somplace  else. Also oxidation is a very tricky process. Even more hazardous 
materials can be produced if oxygenation is not 100% complete. The only 
truly safe oxidants are CO2 & H2O
Thanks,

Al White

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "DeBiasi,Deborah" <dldebiasi at deq.virginia.gov>
To: <pharmwaste at lists.dep.state.fl.us>
Sent: Monday, September 29, 2008 9:40 AM
Subject: [Pharmwaste] New research shows that conventional 
drinking-watertreatment removes illegal drugs from contaminated water 
sources.


http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/esthag/2008/42/i18/html/es8020606.html

Environ. Sci. Technol., 42 (18), 6777, 2008. 10.1021/es8020606
Web Release Date: August 6, 2008

Copyright © 2008 American Chemical Society
Cocaine from drains in Spain

New research shows that conventional drinking-water treatment removes 
illegal drugs from contaminated water sources.

Naomi Lubick


Researchers have documented the flow of so-called drugs of abuse, such as 
cocaine, methamphetamine, and ecstasy, in rivers and streams from Venice, 
Italy, to Florence, Ore. However, new research published in ES&T (DOI 
10.1021/es800768h ) shows that conventional drinking-water treatment 
successfully removes these drugs and others considered to be more benign, 
such as caffeine and nicotine.


FERRAN MARTÍ
A team of researchers, including (left to right) chemists Maria Huerta, 
Ventura, and Teresa Galceran, examined the occurrence of illegal drugs in 
source waters and in treated drinking water in Spain.
The researchers, from the University of Barcelona and the water corporation 
Grupo Agbar, tested water samples for a suite of illicit drugs that included 
PCP, LSD, cocaine, ecstasy, and methamphetamine, as well as several 
metabolites. They also looked for caffeine and nicotine; nicotine recently 
has shown promise as a biomarker of human activity (Environ. Sci. Technol. 
2008, DOI 10.1021/es800455q). Led by Francesc Ventura of Grupo Agbar, the 
team monitored the Llobregat, a highly polluted river in Spain, and several 
of its tributaries.

Drugs can be detected in the treated wastewater that is dumped into these 
water bodies by more than 55 treatment plants. To track the contamination, 
the team sampled river water at more than a dozen input sites during 
different seasons throughout a year. The researchers also took spot samples 
at the same time every day for a week in December at a treatment plant that 
provides drinking water for 1 million people. They followed up with a year 
of regular monitoring.

The researchers found that the river basin is basically flooded with 
caffeine and trace levels of nicotine. They also report that the rivers 
carried up to 15 grams (g) per day of cocaine and 195 g/day of 
benzoylecgonine, one of its metabolites. And although the team found two 
amphetamine-like drugs, ecstasy (MDMA: 
3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine) and its analog MDA 
(3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine), the researchers did not detect PCP and some 
of the other drugs on their list.

But at the intake point of their test treatment plant, the scientists noted 
several trends: concentrations of nicotine and caffeine remained relatively 
steady year-round, with an increase in the summer and a slight dip in the 
fall. Regular spikes in the levels of cocaine and benzoylecgonine (60 and 
770 nanograms per liter, respectively) came after weekends. Still, they 
found "notable loads" throughout the week, "indicating a relatively constant 
pattern of use," they wrote. But spikes in ecstasy and cocaine occurred 
around Christmas and New Year's, indicating a seasonal shift in drug use.

However, the drinking water was free from these drugs after undergoing a 
traditional sequence of treatment-aluminum-based coagulants and flocculants, 
sand filters, ozone, and finally chlorination to keep a residual level of 
chlorine in the distribution system that protects the drinking water during 
final delivery. "The combination of oxidants and sorbents can remove 
conventional contaminants, as well as emerging contaminants," including 
legal pharmaceuticals and illegal drugs, comments Stuart Krasner of the 
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Although the 
concentrations of these drugs in the environment are low, Krasner adds, 
long-term exposures to any small amount of a contaminant in drinking water 
raises concerns for human-health effects.

Other research shows that cocaine seems to be particularly intransigent. It 
has been found unchanged by natural processes in surface waters in Italy and 
the U.K. But the treatment at the Spanish water utility plant showed that 
"the [drinking-water treatment] process can practically remove all these 
compounds," says Ventura. "Some questions still remain: what happens when a 
more simple treatment is applied, and which potential disinfection 
byproducts are generated?" The results also show that "drugs of abuse are 
commonly found in the aquatic media at the same or higher concentration 
levels than other emerging contaminants (i.e., pharmaceuticals)," he adds.


Deborah L. DeBiasi
Email:   dldebiasi at deq.virginia.gov
WEB site address:  www.deq.virginia.gov
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
Office of Water Permit Programs
Industrial Pretreatment/Toxics Management Program
PPCPs, EDCs, and Microconstituents
Mail:          P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, VA  23218 (NEW!)
Location:  629 E. Main Street, Richmond, VA  23219
PH:         804-698-4028
FAX:      804-698-4032

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