Pharmaceuticals in surface water

[Farmercyst]

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Stumbled upon this at the USGS website.

So this is MAX concentrations, but still thought it was relatively high:

Maximum concentrations in outflows from the two wastewater treatment plants in New York were:

•3,800 parts per billion (ppb) of metaxalone (a muscle relaxant)
•1,700 ppb of oxycodone (an opioid prescribed for pain relief)
•Greater than 400 ppb of methadone (an opioid prescribed for pain relief and drug withdrawal)
•160 ppb of butalbital (a barbiturate)
•Greater than 40 ppb of phendimetrazine (a stimulant prescribed for obesity) and carisoprodol (a muscle relaxant)
•3.9 ppb diazepam (an anti-anxiety medication)

If I remember right 3800 ppb is 3.8 mg/mL. So if you drank this you'd be getting supratherapeutic doses in less than a normal glass of water.
Understanding of course that outflows would be diluted by the water it was dispersed into, but still, over time that's some serious outflow.

 

[b1234]

Stumbled upon this at the USGS website.

So this is MAX concentrations, but still thought it was relatively high:



If I remember right 3800 ppb is 3.8 mg/mL. So if you drank this you'd be getting supratherapeutic doses in less than a normal glass of water.
Understanding of course that outflows would be diluted by the water it was dispersed into, but still, over time that's some serious outflow.

you're off by a factor of 10^3. 1ppm = 1 mg/L so 3800 ppb is 1ug/mL