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Impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on the aquatic environment associated with disinfection byproducts and pharmaceuticals.

ABSTRACT: In this study, concentrations of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) and COVID-19 related pharmaceuticals in wastewater effluents and surface water were measured two weeks, three months and eight months after the lockdown in Wuhan. Little temporal variation in DBP concentrations suggested intensified disinfection during the COVID-19 pandemic had limited impacts on the occurrence of DBPs in the aquatic environment. In contrast, the pandemic led to a significant increase in concentrations of lopinavir and ritonavir in wastewater effluents and surface water. The high detection frequency of these pharmaceuticals in surface water after the lockdown highlighted their mobility and persistence in the aquatic environment. The initial ecological risk assessment indicated moderate risks associated with these pharmaceuticals in surface water. As the global situation is still rapidly evolving with a continuous surge in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, our results suggest a pressing need for monitoring COVID-19 related pharmaceuticals as well as a systematic evaluation of their ecotoxicities in the aquatic environment.

SUBMITTER: Zhang Z

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8568319 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on the aquatic environment associated with disinfection byproducts and pharmaceuticals.

Zhang Zhong Z Zhou Yang Y Han Lanfang L Guo Xiaoyu X Wu Zihao Z Fang Jingyun J Hou Banglei B Cai Yanpeng Y Jiang Jin J Yang Zhifeng Z

The Science of the total environment 20211104

In this study, concentrations of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) and COVID-19 related pharmaceuticals in wastewater effluents and surface water were measured two weeks, three months and eight months after the lockdown in Wuhan. Little temporal variation in DBP concentrations suggested intensified disinfection during the COVID-19 pandemic had limited impacts on the occurrence of DBPs in the aquatic environment. In contrast, the pandemic led to a significant increase in concentrations of lopinavir ...[more]

PMID: 34742986

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Project description:During the COVID-19 pandemic, wastewater surveillance was leveraged as a powerful tool for monitoring community-scale health. Further, the well-known persistence of some pharmaceuticals through wastewater treatment plants spurred concerns that increased usage of pharmaceuticals during the pandemic would increase the concentrations in wastewater treatment plant effluent. We collected weekly influent and effluent samples from May 2020 through May 2021 from two wastewater treatment plants in central Pennsylvania, the Penn State Water Reclamation Facility and the University Area Joint Authority, that provide effluent for beneficial reuse, including for irrigation. Samples were analyzed for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (influent only), two over-the-counter medicines (acetaminophen and naproxen), five antibiotics (ampicillin, doxycycline, ofloxacin, sulfamethoxazole, and trimethoprim), two therapeutic agents (remdesivir and dexamethasone), and hydroxychloroquine. Although there were no correlations between pharmaceutical and virus concentration, remdesivir detection occurred when the number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 increased, and dexamethasone detection co-occurred with the presence of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators. Additionally, Penn State decision-making regarding instruction modes explained the temporal variation of influent pharmaceutical concentrations, with detection occurring primarily when students were on campus. Risk quotients calculated for pharmaceuticals with known effective and lethal concentrations at which 50% of a population is affected for fish, daphnia, and algae were generally low in the effluent; however, some acute risks from sulfamethoxazole were high when students returned to campus. Remdesivir and dexamethasone persisted through the wastewater treatment plants, thereby introducing novel pharmaceuticals directly to soils and surface water. These results highlight connections between human health and water quality and further demonstrate the broad utility of wastewater surveillance.

Dataset Information

Impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on the aquatic environment associated with disinfection byproducts and pharmaceuticals.

Publications

Impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on the aquatic environment associated with disinfection byproducts and pharmaceuticals.

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