Wastewater Analysis for Community-Wide Drugs Use Assessment

Ort, Christoph; Bijlsma, Lubertus; Castiglioni, Sara; Voogt, P. de; Emke, Erik; Hernández, Félix; Reid, Malcolm J.; Nuijs, Alexander L.N. van; Thomas, Kevin V.; Kasprzyk-Hordern, Barbara

doi:10.1007/164_2018_111

Cited by 20 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 89 publications

(127 reference statements)

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“…Firstly, we loaded acquired data (0 V full scan segment one) and applied the CODA algorithm which uses parameters set for smoothing, baseline correction, and peak picking parameters (Table SI- 2). Secondly, we selected the two chromatograms to compare (e.g.…”

Section: Non-target Screening Data Analysis Workflow Using 'Componentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The emerging field of wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has been instrumental in estimating illicit drug consumption in communities. WBE is now used as a complimentary approach by the European Monitoring Centre for Drug and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) to monitor spatio-temporal trends in the use of conventional illicit drugs like cocaine, methamphetamine, ecstasy, and amphetamine 1,2 . Synthetic cathinones and other phenethylamines have emerged over the last decade as major classes of new psychoactive substances (NPS) in many European countries 3 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Investigating in-sewer transformation products formed from synthetic cathinones and phenethylamines using liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Kinyua

Negreira

McCall

et al. 2018

Science of The Total Environment

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Recent studies have demonstrated the role of biofilms on the stability of drug residues in wastewater. These factors are pertinent in wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) when estimating community-level drug use. However, there is scarce information on the biotransformation of drug residues in the presence of biofilms and the potential use of transformation products (TPs) as biomarkers in WBE. The purpose of this work was to investigate the formation of TPs in sewage reactors in the presence of biofilm mimicking conditions during in-sewer transport. Synthetic cathinones (methylenedioxypyrovalerone, methylone, mephedrone) and phenethylamines (4-methoxy-methamphetamine and 4-methoxyamphetamine) were incubated in individual reactors over a 24h period. Analysis of parent species and TPs was carried out using liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-QToFMS). Identification of TPs was done using suspect and non-target workflows. In total, 18 TPs were detected and identified with reduction of β-keto group, demethylenation, demethylation, and hydroxylation reactions observed for the synthetic cathinones. For the phenethylamines, N- and O-demethylation reactions were identified. Overall, the experiments showed varying stability for the parent species in wastewater in the presence of biofilms. The newly identified isomeric forms of TPs particularly for methylone and mephedrone can be used as potential target biomarkers for WBE studies due to their specificity and detectability within a 24h residence time.

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Section: Non-target Screening Data Analysis Workflow Using 'Componentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating in-sewer transformation products formed from synthetic cathinones and phenethylamines using liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Kinyua

Negreira

McCall

et al. 2018

Science of The Total Environment

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“…Mechanisms to report hospital admissions and forensic toxicology findings may not be publicly available. Wastewater analysis (WWA) has thus been proposed as a suitable complementary means to provide temporal and spatial trends in NPS use, because it can give information on the identity and amount of drugs being used at any given time …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Wastewater analysis (WWA) has thus been proposed as a suitable complementary means to provide temporal and spatial trends in NPS use, because it can give information on the identity and amount of drugs being used at any given time. 7,8 The ever-changing nature of the NPS market means acquiring standards and developing quantitative analytical methods for compounds which may have a short commercial lifetime is unfeasible.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the appearance of new psychoactive substances in South Australia using wastewater and forensic data

Bade

Stockham

Painter

et al. 2018

Drug Testing and Analysis

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New psychoactive substances (NPS) have increased in use and popularity worldwide. Wastewater analysis has been successfully applied to evaluate illicit drugs use within a population. However, for NPS, such an approach may be limited due to low doses of NPS combined with their ever-changing composition and usage. The dynamic nature of the NPS market means use may be opportunistic, infrequent, and with few users. Hence, the use of complementary information sources is recommended to improve the knowledge on NPS consumption. The aim of this study was to investigate the changing landscape of NPS use on a community scale by combining wastewater analysis and forensic toxicology. Forensic analysis provided specific information on NPS prevalence in post-mortem blood samples in Adelaide, South Australia over five years, while wastewater analysis showed community use over the same period. A qualitative liquid chromatography--high resolution mass spectrometry method was initially used to screen the wastewater samples. A total of 24 NPS were found: 6 in wastewater only, 13 in forensic post-mortem toxicology samples only, and 5 in both. As these results showed the presence of NPS, a targeted method was subsequently employed to quantify levels of these NPS in wastewater. Temporal trends were found in wastewater with distinct tendencies for synthetic cathinones visible over the period studied.

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“…However, benzodiazepines are also often abused. Drugs of abuse are a group of emerging environmental contaminants that have recently received a large amount of attention [ 3 – 5 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acidic transformation of nordiazepam can affect recovery estimate during trace analysis of diazepam and nordiazepam in environmental water samples by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

et al. 2019

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In this study, a special interest was focused on the stability of diazepam and nordiazepam in aqueous samples at acidic and neutral pH. The aim of the study was to isolate and illustrate one of the many possible sources of error that can be encountered when developing and validating analytical methods. This can be of particular importance when developing multi-analyte methods where there is limited time to scrutinize the behavior of each analyte. A method was developed for the analysis of the benzodiazepines diazepam and nordiazepam in treated wastewater. The samples were extracted by solid phase extraction, using SPEC C18AR cartridges, and analyzed by the use of liquid chromatography, with a C18 stationary phase, coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. Environmental water samples are often acidified during storage to reduce the microbial degradation of the target compounds and to preserve the sample. In some cases, the samples are acidified before extraction. In this study, it was found that a chemical equilibrium between nordiazepam and a transformation product could cause inaccurately high extraction recovery values when the samples were stored at low sample pH. The stability of nordiazepam was shown to be low at pH 3. Within 12 days, 20% of the initial concentration of nordiazepam was transformed. Interestingly, the transformed nordiazepam was shown to be regenerated and reformed to nordiazepam during sample handling. At a sample pH of 7, diazepam and nordiazepam were stable for 12 days. It was concluded that great care must be taken when acidifying water samples containing nordiazepam during storage or extraction. The storage and the extraction should be conducted at neutral pH if no internal standard is used to compensate for degradation and conversion of nordiazepam. The developed method was validated in treated wastewater and applied for the quantification of diazepam and nordiazepam in treated wastewater samples.

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Wastewater Analysis for Community-Wide Drugs Use Assessment

Cited by 20 publications

References 89 publications

Investigating in-sewer transformation products formed from synthetic cathinones and phenethylamines using liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Investigating in-sewer transformation products formed from synthetic cathinones and phenethylamines using liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Investigating the appearance of new psychoactive substances in South Australia using wastewater and forensic data

Acidic transformation of nordiazepam can affect recovery estimate during trace analysis of diazepam and nordiazepam in environmental water samples by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

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