Trends of Benzotriazoles and Benzothiazoles in Australian Pooled Urine Samples from 2012 to 2023.

Benzotriazoles (BZTs) and benzothiazoles (BTs) are high-production-volume chemicals utilized in many different commercial products and industrial processes, such as metal corrosion inhibitors, vulcanization accelerators, plastic-associated UV stabilizers, and pharmaceutical precursors. This study assessed age, gender, and temporal trends of BZTs and BTs in deidentified surplus pathology urine samples, pooled and stratified by age, gender, and sample collection year from a general Australian population (168 pools representing 16,800 individuals). Tolyltriazole (TTri), 5,6-dimethyl-1H-benzotriazole (DMBZT), 1,3-benzothiazole (BTH), 2-hydroxybenzothiazole (2-OH-BTH), and 2-aminobenzothiazole (2-amino-BTH) were detected in >50% of the pools.

Quantification of new psychoactive substances in Australian wastewater utilising direct injection liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry.

The dynamic new psychoactive substances (NPS) market presents a great challenge for public health officers, law enforcement and analytical and forensic chemists. Wastewater analysis is a complementary tool in the ongoing surveillance of these compounds but the low doses, somewhat unknown metabolism and the different chemical classes have made analytical methods difficult to develop. The current study presents a direct injection method for the quantification of 32 NPS.

Characterization of glyphosate and AMPA concentrations in the urine of Australian and New Zealand populations.

Glyphosate is the most used herbicide globally, but our understanding of human exposure and how different uses affect exposure is not well understood. The aim of this study was to obtain the first data on glyphosate and its primary degradation product aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) concentrations in pooled and individual urine from the Australia and New Zealand region using a sensitive direct injection method and compare results with studies from elsewhere. Pooled urine samples from the Australian general population (n = 125 pools representing >1875 individuals) and individual urine samples (n = 27) from occupationally exposed New Zealand farmers were analysed by LC-MS/MS.

Direct injection analysis of oxypurinol and metformin in wastewater by hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry.

The increasing global prevalence of gout and diabetes has led to a rise in the use of their respective medications, allopurinol and metformin. These are excreted via urine as oxypurinol and metformin and are discharged into wastewater and the environment. Current environmental monitoring of those two polar chemicals requires labour intensive and potentially inefficient sample pre-treatments, such as using solid-phase extraction or freeze-drying.

Determination of anabasine, anatabine, and nicotine biomarkers in wastewater by enhanced direct injection LC-MS/MS and evaluation of their in-sewer stability.

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has been used to estimate tobacco use in the population. However, the increased use of nicotine replacement therapies and e-cigarettes contributes to the load of nicotine metabolites in wastewater, causing over-estimation of tobacco use if nicotine metabolites were used in WBE back-estimation. This study aims to develop a rapid method for determining the tobacco-specific biomarkers, anabasine and anatabine, in wastewater and to evaluate their in-sewer stability for better estimation of tobacco use by WBE.

A pilot wastewater-based epidemiology assessment of anabolic steroid use in Queensland, Australia.

Anabolic-androgenic steroids are synthetic compounds prohibited due to their performance-enhancing characteristics. The use of these substances is known to cause health-related issues, which highlights the importance of being able to evaluate the scale of consumption by the general population. However, most available research on the analysis of anabolic steroids is focused on animals and athletes in connection with doping.

A mass estimate of perfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) release from Australian wastewater treatment plants.

Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have been used in large quantities for a variety of applications in Australian industry and household products. Through the course of their everyday use, PFASs enter the wastewater stream however current treatment processes provide only partial removal of these chemicals from wastewater. The release of treated effluent and re-use of biosolids represents an important point source of PFASs into the Australian environment yet the scale of PFAS release from Australian WWTPs is unknown.

Stability of alcohol and tobacco consumption biomarkers in a real rising main sewer.

Since alcohol and tobacco consumption are among the leading causes of population health harm, it is very important to understand the consumption behaviour to develop effective harm reduction strategies. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is a potential tool for estimating their consumption, but there are several uncertainties that need to be determined, including the stability of biomarkers in the sewer. Utilizing a real rising main sewer, this study investigated the stability of alcohol and tobacco consumption biomarkers.

Contribution of transformation products towards the total herbicide toxicity to tropical marine organisms.

The toxicity of herbicide degradation (transformation) products is rarely taken into account, even though these are commonly detected in the marine environment, sometimes at concentrations higher than the parent compounds. Here we assessed the potential contribution of toxicity by transformation products of five photosystem II herbicides to coral symbionts (Symbiodinium sp.), the green algae Dunaliella sp.

Assessment of drugs and personal care products biomarkers in the influent and effluent of two wastewater treatment plants in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Wastewater samples were collected at the influent and effluent of two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and then pooled to daily samples over multiple days using 6 hourly grab samples. The aim was to provide a first assessment of the occurrence, consumption, removal and release of a range of organic chemicals including pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), illicit drugs, an artificial sweetener, tobacco and its metabolites and alcohol biomarkers (referred to here as DPCPBs). Nineteen DPCPBs were detected via direct measurement of filtered wastewater on LC-MS/MS with a concentration range of 0.

Australia-wide assessment of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in landfill leachates.

Leachate from 27 landfills was analysed for nine perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). Five PFASs were detected ubiquitously, with perfluorohexanoate (PFHxA) the predominant PFAS (mean 1700ng/L; range 73-25,000ng/L). Despite the complexity of landfill-specific factors, some general trends in PFAS concentrations were observed.

Impact of in-Sewer Degradation of Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) Population Markers on a Population Model.

A key uncertainty of wastewater-based epidemiology is the size of the population which contributed to a given wastewater sample. We previously developed and validated a Bayesian inference model to estimate population size based on 14 population markers which: (1) are easily measured and (2) have mass loads which correlate with population size. However, the potential uncertainty of the model prediction due to in-sewer degradation of these markers was not evaluated.

Medium-Chain Chlorinated Paraffins (CPs) Dominate in Australian Sewage Sludge.

To simultaneously quantify and profile the complex mixture of short-, median-, and long-chain CPs (SCCPs, MCCPs, and LCCPs) in Australian sewage sludge, we applied and further validated a recently developed novel instrumental technique, using quadrupole time-of-flight high resolution mass spectrometry running in the negative atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mode (APCI-qTOF-HRMS). Without using an analytical column the cleaned extracts were directly injected into the qTOF-HRMS followed by quantification of the CPs by a mathematical algorithm. The recoveries of the four SCCP, MCCP and LCCP-spiked sewage sludge samples ranged from 86 to 123%.

Degradation of Herbicides in the Tropical Marine Environment: Influence of Light and Sediment.

Widespread contamination of nearshore marine systems, including the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) lagoon, with agricultural herbicides has long been recognised. The fate of these contaminants in the marine environment is poorly understood but the detection of photosystem II (PSII) herbicides in the GBR year-round suggests very slow degradation rates. Here, we evaluated the persistence of a range of commonly detected herbicides in marine water under field-relevant concentrations and conditions.

Rapid, automated online SPE-LC-QTRAP-MS/MS method for the simultaneous analysis of 14 phthalate metabolites and 5 bisphenol analogues in human urine.

Phthalates and bisphenol A (BPA) have received special attention in recent years due to their frequent use in consumer products and potential for adverse effects on human health. BPA is being replaced with a number of alternatives, including bisphenol S, bisphenol B, bisphenol F and bisphenol AF. These bisphenol analogues have similar potential for adverse health effects, but studies on human exposure are limited.

Herbicide Persistence in Seawater Simulation Experiments.

Herbicides are detected year-round in marine waters, including those of the World Heritage listed Great Barrier Reef (GBR). The few previous studies that have investigated herbicide persistence in seawater generally reported half-lives in the order of months, and several studies were too short to detect significant degradation. Here we investigated the persistence of eight herbicides commonly detected in the GBR or its catchments in standard OECD simulation flask experiments, but with the aim to mimic natural conditions similar to those found on the GBR (i.

Emerging contaminants (pharmaceuticals, personal care products, a food additive and pesticides) in waters of Sydney estuary, Australia.

The current investigation of marine water from 30 sites adjacent to stormwater outlets across the entire Sydney estuary is the first such research in Australia. The number of analytes detected were: 8/59 pharmaceutical compounds (codeine, paracetamol, tramadol, venlafaxine, propranolol, fluoxetine, iopromide and carbamazepine), 7/38 of the pesticides (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), 3,4-dichloroaniline, carbaryl, diuron, 2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid (MCPA), mecoprop and simazine) and 0/3 of the personal care products (PCPs) analysed. An artificial sweetener (acesulfame) was detected, however none of the nine antibiotics analysed were identified.

Historical trends of PBDEs and HBCDs in sediment cores from Sydney estuary, Australia.

This paper presents the first historical data on the occurrence of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDs) in estuarine sediment from Australia. Sediment cores and surficial sediment samples were collected from four locations within Sydney estuary, Australia. Large increases in concentrations were observed for all compounds between 1980 and 2014, especially for BDE-209 (representative usage of Deca-BDE commercial mixture), which was found in surficial sediment at an average concentration of 42 ng/g dry wt (21-65 ng/g dry wt).

The effect of ongoing blood loss on human serum concentrations of perfluorinated acids.

Perfluorinated alkyl acids (PFAAs) have been detected in serum at low concentrations in background populations. Higher concentrations haven been observed in adult males compared to females, with a possible explanation that menstruation offers females an additional elimination route. In this study, we examined the significance of blood loss as an elimination route of PFAAs.

Degradability of creatinine under sewer conditions affects its potential to be used as biomarker in sewage epidemiology.

Creatinine was proposed to be used as a population normalising factor in sewage epidemiology but its stability in the sewer system has not been assessed. This study thus aimed to evaluate the fate of creatinine under different sewer conditions using laboratory sewer reactors. The results showed that while creatinine was stable in wastewater only, it degraded quickly in reactors with the presence of sewer biofilms.

Towards development of a rapid and effective non-destructive testing strategy to identify brominated flame retardants in the plastics of consumer products.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are a class of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) once extensively used in the plastics of a wide range of consumer products. The listing of certain congeners that are constituents of commercial PBDE mixtures (including c-octaBDE) in the Stockholm Convention and tightening regulation of many other BFRs in recent years have created the need for a rapid and effective method of identifying BFR-containing plastics. A three-tiered testing strategy comparing results from non-destructive testing (X-ray fluorescence (XRF)) (n=1714), a surface wipe test (n=137) and destructive chemical analysis (n=48) was undertaken to systematically identify BFRs in a wide range of consumer products.

A model to estimate the population contributing to the wastewater using samples collected on census day.

An important uncertainty when estimating per capita consumption of, for example, illicit drugs by means of wastewater analysis (sometimes referred to as "sewage epidemiology") relates to the size and variability of the de facto population in the catchment of interest. In the absence of a day-specific direct population count any indirect surrogate model to estimate population size lacks a standard to assess associated uncertainties. Therefore, the objective of this study was to collect wastewater samples at a unique opportunity, that is, on a census day, as a basis for a model to estimate the number of people contributing to a given wastewater sample.

Age-related trends in urinary excretion of bisphenol A in Australian children and adults: evidence from a pooled sample study using samples of convenience.

Bisphenol A (BPA or 4,4'-(propane-2,2-diyl)diphenol) is a chemical intermediate in the production of polycarbonate and epoxy resins, and is used in a wide range of applications. BPA has attracted significant attention in the past decade due to its frequency of detection in human populations worldwide, and has demonstrated animal toxicity and potential impact on human health, particularly during critical periods of development. The aim of this study was to perform a preliminary assessment of age-related trends in urinary concentration and to estimate daily excretion of BPA in Australian children (aged >0 to <5 yr) and adults (≥15 to <75 yr).

Urinary bisphenol A concentrations in pregnant women.

Bisphenol A is a chemical that is present in a number of products and types of food packaging. Prenatal exposure to bisphenol A may cause behavioural changes in young children. The aim of this study was to investigate exposure to bisphenol A in pregnant Australian women as a surrogate of neonatal exposure.

First report of a toxic Nodularia spumigena (Nostocales/ Cyanobacteria) bloom in sub-tropical Australia. II. Bioaccumulation of nodularin in isolated populations of mullet (Mugilidae).

Fish collected after a mass mortality at an artificial lake in south-east Queensland, Australia, were examined for the presence of nodularin as the lake had earlier been affected by a Nodularia bloom. Methanol extracts of muscle, liver, peritoneal and stomach contents were analysed by HPLC and tandem mass spectrometry; histological examination was conducted on livers from captured mullet. Livers of sea mullet (Mugil cephalus) involved in the fish kill contained high concentrations of nodularin (median 43.