The geochemistry of cocaine and ecological impacts in the Hawkesbury-Nepean River

The presence of cocaine in environmental waters is of increasing concern in urbanizing catchment areas. Here we report on three years of cocaine seasonal data for the Hawkesbury-Nepean river in NSW. We demonstrate that cocaine concentrations are of ecological concern and demonstrate that cocaine and associated metabolites will persist in freshwater environments for up to several weeks. This research shows that discharge from wastewater treatment facilities to freshwater environments provides a pathway for the exposure of illicit compounds to organisms and may have deleterious effects on the environment.