Antidepressants surveillance in wastewater: Overview extraction and detection

Case Stud Chem Environ Eng. 2021 Jun:3:100074. doi: 10.1016/j.cscee.2020.100074. Epub 2020 Dec 24.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has been one of the biggest challenges worldwide. The psychological disorders associated with the pandemic causing depression, insomnia, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety reduce emotional stability. Different antidepressant drugs with several mechanisms of action are used with a prescription. The excretion of the compounds and their metabolites reach municipal wastewaters and enter sewage treatment plants with a low rate of remotion of pharmaceutical compounds and the releasing on the environment. Several effects on aquatic species exposed to antidepressants have been reported as the impact in gene transcription, reproduction cycles, predator defense, and motility. The aim of this work is to resume the common antidepressants detected in wastewater around the world and show the increment of its use during SARS-CoV-2 crisis.

Keywords: Antidepressants; Environmental impact; Extraction and detection methods; Wastewater.