Reducing contrast agent residuals in hospital wastewater: the GREENWATER study protocol

European Radiology Experimental

Methodology

Francesco Pomati¹  Laura Valentina Renna²  Rosanna Cardani²  Moreno Zanardo³  Francesco Sardanelli⁴  Luigi Asmundo⁵  Andrea Cozzi⁶  Giovanni Di Leo⁶ 

[1] ArsChemica S.R.L., Caselle Landi, Italy;Biobank BioCor, IRCCS Policlinico San Donato, San Donato Milanese, Italy;Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy;Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy;Unit of Radiology, IRCCS Policlinico San Donato, San Donato Milanese, Italy;Postgraduation School in Radiodiagnostics, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy;Unit of Radiology, IRCCS Policlinico San Donato, San Donato Milanese, Italy;

关键词: Contrast media;    Gadolinium;    Iodine;    Outpatients;    Urinalysis;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s41747-023-00337-w

 received in 2022-11-16, accepted in 2023-03-09,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

The potential enviromental impact of iodinated (ICAs) and gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) have recently come under scrutiny, considering the current nonselective wastewater treatment. However, their rapid excretion after intravenous administration could allow their potential recovery by targeting hospital sewage. The GREENWATER study aims to appraise the effective quantities of ICAs and GBCAs retrievable from patients’ urine collected after computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exams, selecting ICA/GBCA per-patient urinary excretion and patients’ acceptance rate as study endpoints. Within a prospective, observational, single-centre, 1-year framework, we will enrol outpatients aged ≥ 18 years, scheduled to perform contrast-enhanced CT or MRI, willing to collect post-examination urine in dedicated canisters by prolonging their hospital stay to 1 h after injection. Collected urine will be processed and partially stored in the institutional biobank. Patient-based analysis will be performed for the first 100 CT and 100 MRI patients, and then, all analyses will be conducted on the pooled urinary sample. Quantification of urinary iodine and gadolinium will be performed with spectroscopy after oxidative digestion. The evaluation of the acceptance rate will assess the “environmental awareness” of patients and will aid to model how procedures to reduce ICA/GBCA enviromental impact could be adapted in different settings.Key points• Enviromental impact of iodinated and gadolinium-based contrast agents represents a growing point of attention.• Current wastewater treatment is unable to retrieve and recycle contrast agents.• Prolonging hospital stay may allow contrast agents retrieval from patients’ urine.• The GREENWATER study will assess the effectively retrievable contrast agents’ quantities.• The enrolment acceptance rate will allow to evaluate patients’ “green sensitivity”.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

【 图 表 】

Fig. 2

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