Effect of distributing urine-collection bags on contrast-material load in wastewater

Question Contrast materials (CM) increasingly emerge as environmental contaminants; because treatment plants are currently unable to remove CM from wastewater, the effects of urine-collection-bag distribution are evaluated. Findings Standard-care urine-collection-bag distribution after CT and MRI led to small but significant CM-load reductions in wastewater; compliance data, however, led to sizeable overestimation of (achievable) effects. Clinical relevance Urine-collection bag distribution had a significant but small impact on reducing contrast materials in wastewater. Most studies only include compliance data, but results show these overestimate impact, underscoring the importance of contrast-load measurements when evaluating mitigation strategies.