PREPARE

PREPARE feeds into UK Pandemic Preparedness Stategy Consultation

Andrew Singer — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:34:31 +0000

UK influenza pandemic preparedness strategy 2011: strategy for consultation

PREPARE feedback: PREPARE response to consultation

Draft Strategy: UK influenza pandemic preparedness strategy 2011: strategy for consultation (PDF, 1462K)

Consultation response: UK Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Strategy 2011: response to the consultation

Dutch workshop on the Impact of Pandemics on Wastewater Treatment Plants and Water Quality

Andrew Singer — Wed, 04 May 2011 11:39:36 +0000

A workshop on 20 January, 2011 was held at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), to assess the potential hazards stemming from the increased use of medicines (esp. antivirals and antimicrobials) during an influenza pandemic and the hazards they pose to the operation of wastewater treatment plants and water quality, with a particular focus on ‘the Dutch story’. The programme and talks can be found here.

Pandemic pharmaceutical dosing effects on wastewater treatment: no adaptation of activated sludge bacteria to degrade the antiviral drug Oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and loss of nutrient removal performance

Fran Slater — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 09:35:55 +0000

FEMS Microbiology Ecology, DOI: 10.1111/j.1574-6968.2010.02163.x

F.R. Slater, A.C. Singer, S. Turner, J.J. Barr, P.L. Bond

The authors monitored the effects of a simulated influenza-pandemic dosing of antibiotics and antivirals onnn aerobic granular sludge sequencing batch reactor, operated for enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR), for 8 weeks.

Click here for F. Slater’s publications on PubMed

Dissipation and removal of oseltamivir (Tamiflu) in different aquatic environments

Andrew Singer — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 08:30:16 +0000

Chemosphere 79(8):891-897

Cesare Accinellia, Maria Ludovica Saccà, Jerker Fick, Mariangela Mencarelli, Richard Lindberg and Björn Olsen

A series of laboratory experiments investigated the fate and the removal of oseltamivir in two surface water ecosystems of Japan and in a municipal wastewater treatment plant located in Northern Italy.

Antiviral Drugs in Wastewater and Surface Waters: A New Pharmaceutical Class of Environmental Relevance?

Andrew Singer — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:31:40 +0000

Environ. Sci. Technol 2010, 44 (5):1728–1735

Antiviral Drugs in Wastewater and Surface Waters: A New Pharmaceutical Class of Environmental Relevance?

Carsten Prasse, Michael P. Schlsener, Ralf Schulz and Thomas A. Ternes

Abstract

An analytical method was developed for the determination of nine antiviral drugs (acyclovir, abacavir, lamivudine, nevirapine oseltamivir, penciclovir, ribavirin, stavudine, zidovudine) and one active metabolite (oseltamivir carboxylate) in raw and treated wastewater as well as in surface water using LC/ESI tandem MS detection. Relative recoveries exceeded 80% and limits of quantification ranged between 0.2 and 10 ng L−1. Matrix effects were compensated by the use of stable isotope labeled surrogate standards and optimized chromatographic separation on a Hydro-RP column. All antiviral drugs, except ribavirin, were detected in raw wastewater. A significant reduction in concentrations was observed for acyclovir, lamivudine, and abacavir in treated wastewater indicating a substantial removal, while nevirapine, zidovudine and oseltamivir were found in similar concentrations in raw and treated wastewater. Concentrations in river waters were in the lower ng L−1-range, with a maximum of 190 and 170 ng L−1 for acyclovir and zidovudine, respectively in the Hessian Ried. Estimated total compound loads in the Ruhr river ranged between <0.1 and 16.5 g d−1 while for the Rhine river values between 370 and 1800 g d−1 were determined. The ratios of oseltamivir to oseltamivir carboxylate were approximately a factor of 10 higher for the Rhine than for the other rivers and streams indicating a significant contribution from other sources such as discharges from manufacturing facilities

Ecotoxicology workshop

murray.gardner — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:49:18 +0000

PREPARE is considering an workshop on ecotoxicologic assessment of pharmaceuticals proposed for use during an influenza pandemic. Discussions are likely to be focused on methods of determining a quantitative measure of mixture effects to microorganisms within wastewater treatment plants. Secondary to this aim is to begin the discussion on how to best assess mixture toxicity in the wider environment (i.e., river ecology). Event details will follow shortly.