The impacts of the opioid crisis extend beyond the human toll to potential impacts to the environment. A high percentage of these compounds and their metabolites pass through wastewater collection and treatment systems into receiving waters, where their impacts are largely unknown. "Drugs of abuse", which include abused prescription and illicit drugs, are a group of emerging contaminants whose fate in ecosystems is still largely unknown. Their high consumption, coupled with their incomplete removal during wastewater treatment, leads to their widespread occurrence in the environment. Many drugs of abuse are psychoactive and may pose exposure risks to aquatic organisms. A primary goal for this project is to evaluate the environmental distribution, natural attenuation, and ecological impacts of residual drugs in receiving waters. Results will be used to develop tools for rapid assessment in waters across the Nation. The project will also implement diverse educational and outreach initiatives designed to engage student groups in experiential STEM learning and raise awareness and scientific understanding on the ecological burdens of drugs of abuse.
This project aims to leverage state of the science chemical analytical techniques to understand the distribution, fate, and ecological impacts of drugs of abuse in aquatic environments. The project has four integrated research components: (1) characterize the spatio-temporal occurrence of drugs of abuse in riverine and estuarine systems, (2) quantify exposure effects on stream productivity and biodiversity, (3) determine kinetic rates of in-stream attenuation, and (4) identify ecotoxicity "hotspots" for residual drugs in the Merrimack River model watershed. Characterizing the spatio-temporal distribution of drugs of abuse will greatly increase our understanding of their environmental spread, fate, and transport in US waters. Research findings will inform subsequent exposure and kinetic studies, which in turn will guide the formulation of environmental exposure indices. Results from this research will provide a basis for future regional ecotoxicity assessments for drugs of abuse in the environment and will broaden our understanding of the assimilative capacity of receiving waters. These results will be leveraged to benefit society through collaboration with local and State agencies, as well as through outreach to the public to increase the public's scientific literacy on the impacts of drugs of abuse on the environment.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
