Cocaine and metabolites in waste and surface water across Belgium

Abstract

Cocaine consumption can be evaluated through analysis of waste and surface water. Cocaine abuse, a growing social problem, is currently estimated from population surveys, consumer interviews and crime statistics. A new approach based on the analysis of cocaine (COC) and metabolites, benzoylecgonine (BE) and ecgonine methyl ester (EME), in water samples was applied to 28 rivers and 37 waste water treatment plants in Belgium using solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. While EME was undetectable, COC and BE were detectable with concentrations ranging from <1 to 753 ng/L and <1 to 2258 ng/L, respectively. BE concentrations were employed to calculate the local amount of abused cocaine. The highest values (up to 1.8 g/day cocaine per 1000 inhabitants) were found in large cities and during weekends. The estimation of cocaine abuse through water analysis can be executed on regular basis without cooperation of patients. It also gives clear geographical information, while prevention campaigns can easily be implemented and evaluated. a r t i c l e i n f o

Removal of benzoylecgonine from water matrices through UV254/H2O2 process: Reaction kinetic modeling, ecotoxicity and genotoxicity assessment

“…Although the removal of BE in conventional STP is typically 80% [5,6], the effluent concentrations is in the range 0.1-3275 ngL -1 [7,8]. BE in SurW ranges between 0.3-530 ngL -1 [9][10][11] and in river sediments is reported as 1.0 ng g -1 [12].…”

“…Indeed, it was chosen an initial concentration of BE higher than usually found in effluents or SurW [7][8][9][10][11][12] to better assess ecotoxicological effects of by-products solutions, as reported in previous studies [36][37][38]. Furthermore, such high concentrations are not of limited relevance because they are suitable to determine the median effective concentration (EC50), an indicator of by-products toxicity and the time onset of the effects.…”

Using wastewater-based epidemiology to estimate drug consumption—Statistical analyses and data presentation

“…For example, the European Union Early Warning System reported 101 new psychoactive substances in 2014, up from 24 new drugs in 2009 (European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, 2015). Expansion of drug use outside of urban areas is exemplified by the recent finding in the United States that fatal drug overdoses have increased 394% in rural areas from 1999-2000to 2008-2009(Rossen et al, 2013. To be of value as an epidemiological measure and in turn for policy planning, wastewater drug testing may need to expand to include more compounds in more locations.…”

“…Results are often reported not just in terms of the level of compounds detected, but used as an epidemiological measure of drug use including comparisons of drug trends over time and between locations with implications for international drug policy (Metcalfe et al, 2010;van Nuijs et al, 2009). However, without proper data analysis and reporting of analytical results below LOD and LOQ, as well as estimating confidence bounds that incorporate all sources of uncertainty, we believe reporting such comparisons of drug use are premature.…”

Research trends on emerging environment pollutants – a review

“…Recently, many reports estimating illicit drug abuse using 'sewage epidemiology' have been published in many European countries, such as Belgium [75,85,86], United Kingdom [87,88], Italy -Florence [89], Spain [90][91][92], Croatia [76], Switzerland [93], Norway [94], Poland [95][96][97], Sweden [98], and also in Canada [99] and the United States of America [100][101][102][103].…”