Psychiatric drugs in the final effluent from wastewater treatment plants (WWTP)

In a study by the Center for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) at the University of Aveiro, research carried out during the PhD of researcher Vânia Calisto shows that WWTPs do not eliminate this type of compound. The antiepileptic carbamazepine was found in the final effluents of the North and South WWTPs in Aveiro in concentrations of micrograms per liter, an amount considered sufficient to suspect chronic effects in aquatic organisms in the case of long-term exposure. The researcher classifies these results as "quite worrying" in terms of persistence in the environment, although the concentrations found are lower than those described in studies carried out in other European countries.