Significance to human health of carbamazepine detected in fruits and vegetables irrigated with recycled water.

The relevance and significance of the findings of chemicals of emerging concern at nanogram concentrations in recycled water is critically important for the consumers of these crops. The relevance and significance of these chemicals at these concentrations is placed in perspective in terms of the number of years of consumption necessary to accrue one acceptable daily intake every day, over a lifetime, specifically for carbamazepine. In this paper, the number of years is calculated and found to far exceed the maximum human life expectancy, even assuming that the individual consumes a mix of fruits and vegetables irrigated with recycled water throughout an 80-year life span, excluding other food crops free from carbamazepine.