Nightingale, J., Trapp, S., Garduño-Jiménez, A. et al. (1 more author) (2025) A framework to assess pharmaceutical accumulation in crops: from wastewater irrigation to consumption. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 493. 138297. ISSN 0304-3894
Abstract
The reuse of treated wastewater for irrigation can inadvertently introduce a suite of emerging contaminants such as pharmaceuticals into agri-ecosystems. However, current monitoring efforts to characterise exposure usually focus on a limited range of analytes. A modelling framework was developed that employs a sequence of pre-developed models to predict accumulative potential in a model crop, Zea mays (corn), using chemical structure and excretion rate as the only model inputs. Z. mays was selected as the model crop as it is a major food source, stands as one of the highest cultivated crops globally, and is characterised as having a medium uptake potential. The framework was used to predict uptake in Z. mays in three regions characteristic of high wastewater reuse (Australia, the US and the Middle East). Despite regional and plant specific differences, 72.7 % of the calculated concentrations were within a factor of ten of those reported in the literature. Topiramate, furosemide, and gemfibrozil were observed to accumulate to the greatest extent in Z. mays, predicted concentrations ranged between 50.27 and 418.01 ng/g (dw) for the top 10. Acids predominantly accumulated in leaves and fruit whereas a higher proportion of bases were predicted to accumulate in the roots. To the best of our knowledge 56.7 % of the 30 highest-ranked pharmaceuticals have not been previously documented in existing literature or monitoring campaigns. This presented framework demonstrates a method to assess risk posed by pharmaceutical compounds with limited experimental data.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2025 Published by Elsevier. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | Hazard Quotient/Hazard Index (HQ/HI); Pharmaceuticals; Predicted Environmental Concentration (PEC); Plant uptake model; Prioritisation |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Geography (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 02 Jun 2025 10:36 |
Last Modified: | 02 Jun 2025 10:36 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2025.138297 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:227269 |