Suspect Screening\nin Mussels Cultured in Straits of\nTebrau Leading to Public Perception and Awareness Survey on Pharmaceuticals\nand Personal Care Products (PPCPs)

The presence of multidrug-resistant bacteria in Malaysian\nwaters\nand farmed aquatic species in its estuarine environment suggests contamination\ndue to pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs). However,\nthis issue has lacked serious attention. This study performed suspect\nscreening to identify tentative PPCPs in water and mussels located\nat the Melayu River during high and low tides, followed by a public\nawareness survey to understand the public behavior toward handling\nPPCPs. In total, 75 PPCPs were tentatively identified. Four and six\ncompounds were found in surface water during low and high tides, respectively,\nwhile mussel samples showed 50 compounds during low tide and 35 compounds\nduring high tide. Interestingly, 7 pharmaceuticals and 4 personal\ncare products appeared in both tides in mussel samples. Survey findings\nrevealed that while respondents understood PPCP pathways entering\nthe environment and associated threats, they were unaware of relevant\nlaws and proper disposal methods for unused pharmaceuticals, which\nare often discarded together with domestic wastes. The findings highlight\nthe urgent need for detailed suspect screening with targeted analysis\nin order to establish relevant regulatory measures apart from providing\npublic education on the proper disposal of PPCPs to mitigate contamination.