Drugs en kalmeringsmiddelen in Nederlands oppervlaktewater, drinkwater en afvalwater : Resultaten van verkennende metingen 2009

In oppervlaktewater van de Rijn en de Maas zijn lage concentraties aangetoond van twaalf stoffen die zijn opgenomen in de Opiumwet. Het gaat om stoffen uit de groepen amphetaminen, slaap- en kalmeringsmiddelen (barbituraten en benzodiazepinen) opiaten en cocaïne. De meeste van deze stoffen worden verwijderd of sterk in concentratie verlaagd tijdens de drinkwaterzuivering. In het drinkwater worden uiteindelijk nog drie stoffen aangetroffen, allen barbituraten. De concentraties zijn zeer laag (maximaal 12 nanogram per liter). Hiermee worden de gezondheidskundige risiconormen voor drinkwater niet overschreden. Het is raadzaam om de aanwezigheid van deze stoffen in het watersysteem te blijven volgen met het oog op mogelijke effecten op de volksgezondheid op lange termijn. Daarnaast wordt aanbevolen om de mogelijke effecten op het ecosysteem te onderzoeken. Dit blijkt uit onderzoek van het RIVM, in opdracht van de VROM-Inspectie van het ministerie van Infrastructuur & Milieu. Het onderzoek is uitgevoerd in samenwerking met KWR Watercycle Research Institute en het Research Institute for Pesticides and Water van de Spaanse Universiteit Jaume I. In totaal zijn 65 watermonsters onderzocht op de aanwezigheid van 37 verschillende drugs en afbraakproducten. Behalve oppervlaktewater en drinkwater is ook stedelijk afvalwater onderzocht. De aangetroffen stoffen konden worden opgespoord dankzij geavanceerde meettechnieken die sinds kort beschikbaar zijn, maar zijn waarschijnlijk al aanwezig in het watersysteem sinds mensen ze gebruiken. Een substantieel deel van de onderzochte stoffen in de Maas en Rijn komt vanuit het buitenland. Vervolgens draagt ook het afvalwater van rioolwaterzuiveringsinstallaties in Nederland hieraan bij. De gevonden concentraties in Nederlands afvalwater zijn van dezelfde ordegrootte als de concentraties in andere West-Europese landen. Met behulp van de gemeten concentraties was het mogelijk om de cocaine consumptie in een aantal steden te schatten en met elkaar te vergelijken.In the surface waters of the rivers Rhine and Meuse, twelve drugs that are listed in the Dutch Opium act were detected at low concentrations. They are from the groups amphetamines, tranquilizers (barbiturates and benzodiazepines) opiates and cocaine. During drinking water production, most compounds are removed or concentrations are substantially lowered. In finished drinking water, three barbiturates were still detected in very low concentrations (up to 12 ng/L). The amounts are below health based provisional drinking water limits. Ongoing monitoring of the presence of these compounds in water and possible long-term effects on human health are a point of interest. It is recommended to investigate possible ecotoxicological effects. These findings are the results of a RIVM investigation performed under the authority of the VROM-Inspectorate of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment. This investigation was carried out in cooperation with KWR Watercycle Research Institute and the Research Institute for Pesticides and Water of the University Jaume I (Spain). A total of 65 water samples were analysed for 37 different drugs of abuse and metabolites. In addition to surface waters and drinking water, sewage waters were also analysed. The compounds can be detected due to the increased sensitivity of analytical methods nowadays available. However, drugs have probably been present in the aquatic environment since they have been used by humans. Substantial fractions of the total load of drugs in the Rhine and Meuse rivers enter the Netherlands from abroad. There is also a contribution through effluents from sewage water treatment plants in the Netherlands. The concentrations found in Dutch sewage water are in the same range as concentrations found in other Western European countries. Based on the measured concentrations, cocaine consumption in some Dutch cities could be estimated and compared.VROM Inspectorat

SPE and LC-MS/MS determination of 14 illicit drugs in surface waters from the Natural Park of L'Albufera (Valencia, Spain)

14 páginas, 4 figuras, 4 tablas.A simple and robust method using solid-phase extraction (SPE) and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for the simultaneous determination of 14 drugs of abuse and their metabolites (cocainics, amphetamine-like compounds, cannabinoids, and opiates) in surface waters has been developed. Seven SPE adsorbents (Oasis HLB, Oasis MCX, Oasis Wax, Supelselect HLB, Strata-X, Strata-XCW), amount of sorbent bed, water volume, and pH were investigated. The highest recoveries, as well as the simplest protocol, were obtained for Oasis HLB cartridges (6 mL/200 mg) using 250 mL of water. The proposed method was linear in a concentration range from 0.03-6 to 300-60,000 ng/L depending on the compound, with correlation coefficients higher than 0.998. Matrix effects have been studied in surface water samples, and several isotope-labeled internal standards have been evaluated as a way to compensate the signal suppression observed. Limits of detection (LODs) and quantification (LOQs) ranged from 0.01 to 1.54 ng/L and from 0.03 to 5.13 ng/L, respectively. Recoveries were 71-102% at the LOQ level and 77-104 at 50 ng/L. The intra-day and intermediate precisions were from 1% to 8% and from 2% to 11%, respectively. The present work reports for the first time the occurrence of drugs of abuse residues in surface water samples from the Natural Park of L'Albufera (Valencia, Spain). Codeine, cocaine, benzoylecgonine, ecgonine methylester, amphetamine, 3,4-methylendioxy methamphetamine, morphine, and methadone were quantified with median values of 11.10, 0.02, 5.59, 0.08, 0.21, 0.75 and 0.14 ng/L respectively, and 11-nor-9-carboxy-Delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol was detected in one sample at levels < LOQ.This work has been supported by Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the project Consolider-Ingenio 2010 CSD2009-00065 and by this Ministry together with the European Regional Development Funds (ERDF) (projects GCL2007-66687-C02-01/BOS, CGL2008-01693/BTE and the project Consolider-Ingenio 2010 CSD2009-00065). P.V.R thanks the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation for the FPI grant.We are also in debt to Supelco, Waters and Phenomenex for providing some free sample cartridges.Peer reviewe