Platinum cytotoxic drugs in the municipal wastewater and drinking water, a validation method and health risk assessment

ABSTRACT

Three cancerostatic platinum compounds (CPCs) including cisplatin, carboplatin and oxaliplatin are complexes of Pt and classified as probable carcinogenic compounds to humans. This study aimed to perform health risk assessment of platinum cytotoxic drugs for drinking water by developing a sensitive analytical method in the water resource of Qom Province in the central part of Iran. Concentrations of the platinum drugs were determined, including 052 ± 0.2 µg/L for cisplatin, 0.94 ± 0.36 µg/L for carboplatin and 0.27 ± 0.16 µg/L for oxaliplatin in influent samples, and 0.24 ± 0.07 µg/L for cisplatin, 0.28 ± 0.05 µg/L for carboplatin and 0.11 ± 0.01 µg/L for oxaliplatin in effluent samples. The results indicated that in all the well water samples related to the groundwater, the concentration of the platinum-based compounds was lower than the calculated limits of quantification (LOQ); the concentration of cisplatin, carboplatin and oxaliplatin across the samples in the station of drinking water distribution was also below the limits of detection (LOD). The resulting margin of exposure (MOE) is lower than one (MOE < 1) for the three groups including children, pregnant women and lactation women related to cisplatin and carboplatin was determined through exposure to raw and untreated drinking water. Further research is recommended to be conducted in this area, particularly environmental fate of metabolites and transformation products.

KEYWORDS:

• cisplatin
• carboplatin
• oxaliplatin
• risk assessment
• QOM
• cytotoxic
• drugs

Additional information

Funding

This project was supported by the Tehran University of Medical Sciences Health Services with the grant number 95-02-103-32040.