Occurrence and ecological risk of pharmaceuticals in river surface water of Bangladesh

Anwar Hossain; Shihori Nakamichi; Md Habibullah-Al-Mamun; Keiichiro Tani; Shigeki Masunaga; Hiroyuki Matsuda

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2018.04.030

Occurrence and ecological risk of pharmaceuticals in river surface water of Bangladesh

Environ Res. 2018 Aug:165:258-266. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2018.04.030. Epub 2018 May 7.

Authors

Anwar Hossain¹, Shihori Nakamichi², Md Habibullah-Al-Mamun³, Keiichiro Tani², Shigeki Masunaga⁴, Hiroyuki Matsuda⁴

Affiliations

¹ Graduate School of Environment and Information Sciences, Yokohama National University, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan; Department of Fisheries, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh. Electronic address: hossain-anwar-hw@ynu.jp.
² Graduate School of Environment and Information Sciences, Yokohama National University, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan.
³ Graduate School of Environment and Information Sciences, Yokohama National University, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan; Department of Fisheries, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.
⁴ Faculty of Environment and Information Sciences, Yokohama National University, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan.

PMID: 29734026
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2018.04.030

Abstract

Pharmaceutical contamination in the aquatic environment is a global issue that affects aquatic animals, micro-organisms and human health. The occurrence and preliminary ecological risk of 12 (11 antibiotics and 1 antiepileptic drug) pharmaceuticals were investigated for the first time in the surface water of the old Brahmaputra River, where open-water-fed aquaculture activities are being practiced in Bangladesh. The pharmaceuticals were quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS), operated with positive electrospray ionization (ESI⁺) and a multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. Nine pharmaceuticals were detected in the river surface water, whereas three were below the limit of detection (LOD). Metronidazole was detected in all the samples with concentrations ranging from 0.05 to 13.51 ng L^-1. Trimethoprim had the second highest frequency of detection (95%) with the highest concentration (17.20 ng L^-1). The ranges of concentration and detection frequency of sulfonamides and macrolides were <LOD-11.35 and <LOD-16.68 ng L^-1; 35-70 and 60-85%, respectively, whereas carbamazepine was in the range of <LOD-8.80 ng L^-1 and had a detection frequency of 65%. The concentrations of sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, erythromycin-H₂O and tylosin were distinctly higher in the fed aquaculture areas. The principal component analysis confirmed that fed aquaculture activities contributed most of the pharmaceutical contamination in the river surface water. Hospitals, nursing homes, sewage wastewater or surface runoff from the surrounding areas might all contribute to the presence of metronidazole and carbamazepine. The preliminary ecological risk assessment revealed that sulfamethoxazole, erythromycin-H₂O and tylosin showed medium risk, and carbamazepine displayed low risk to sensitive aquatic organisms for maximum measured concentrations. Thus, this study suggests that pharmaceutical contamination in different rivers and seasons needs to be quantified, and ecological as well as human health risks need to be assessed in Bangladesh.

Keywords: Ecological risk; Fed aquaculture; Hospital wastewater; Pharmaceuticals; River surface water.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aquaculture
Bangladesh
Environmental Monitoring*
Limit of Detection
Pharmaceutical Preparations / analysis*
Risk Assessment
Rivers / chemistry*
Tandem Mass Spectrometry
Water Pollutants, Chemical / analysis*

Substances

Pharmaceutical Preparations
Water Pollutants, Chemical