Application of wastewater-based epidemiology to investigate stimulant drug, alcohol and tobacco use in Lithuanian communities

Tim Boogaerts; Lina Jurgelaitiene; Catalina Dumitrascu; Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern; Andrew Kannan; Frederic Been; Erik Emke; Pim de Voogt; Adrian Covaci; Alexander L.N. van Nuijs

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145914

Application of wastewater-based epidemiology to investigate stimulant drug, alcohol and tobacco use in Lithuanian communities

Tim Boogaerts, Lina Jurgelaitiene, Catalina Dumitrascu, Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern, Andrew Kannan, Frederic Been, Erik Emke, Pim de Voogt, Adrian Covaci, Alexander L.N. van Nuijs

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

30 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

WBE was applied to evaluate illicit drug (i.e. amphetamine, cocaine, MDMA and methamphetamine), alcohol and tobacco use in three Lithuanian cities in 2018 and 2019. Considerable concentrations of methamphetamine and MDMA were found in the three locations, suggesting a specific Lithuanian consumption pattern. Yet, unexpected high concentrations of amphetamine (>4 μg/L) were detected in two samples of Kaunas in 2018. Through the use of chiral analysis and non-target and suspect drug precursor compound screening, these extreme values were confirmed to be the result of direct disposal of amphetamine in the sewers. Furthermore, substantial alcohol use was measured in the three investigated catchment populations of Lithuania with almost 4 standard drinks/day/inhabitant aged 15+ on average in 2019. For tobacco, an average of 5.6 cigarettes/day/inhabitant aged 15+ in 2019 was reported with large discrepancies between WBE figures and sales data, potentially highlighting illegal trade of tobacco products.

Original language	English
Article number	145914
Journal	Science of the Total Environment
Volume	777
Early online date	19 Feb 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145914
Publication status	Published - 10 Jul 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the WWTP personnel (UAB Vilniaus vandenys, Head of laboratory Eglė Lukoševičienė; AB Klaipėdos vanduo, Head of laboratory Nijole Domarkiene; UAB Kauno vandenys, Chief technologist of watewater treatment plant) for their support in sampling. This study was funded by the European Union's Justice Programme—Drugs Policy Initiatives , EuSeME (project number 861602 ).

Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the WWTP personnel (UAB Vilniaus vandenys, Head of laboratory Egl? Luko?evi?ien?; AB Klaip?dos vanduo, Head of laboratory Nijole Domarkiene; UAB Kauno vandenys, Chief technologist of watewater treatment plant) for their support in sampling. This study was funded by the European Union's Justice Programme?Drugs Policy Initiatives, EuSeME (project number 861602).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier B.V.

Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

Funding

The authors would like to thank the WWTP personnel (UAB Vilniaus vandenys, Head of laboratory Eglė Lukoševičienė; AB Klaipėdos vanduo, Head of laboratory Nijole Domarkiene; UAB Kauno vandenys, Chief technologist of watewater treatment plant) for their support in sampling. This study was funded by the European Union's Justice Programme—Drugs Policy Initiatives , EuSeME (project number 861602 ). The authors would like to thank the WWTP personnel (UAB Vilniaus vandenys, Head of laboratory Egl? Luko?evi?ien?; AB Klaip?dos vanduo, Head of laboratory Nijole Domarkiene; UAB Kauno vandenys, Chief technologist of watewater treatment plant) for their support in sampling. This study was funded by the European Union's Justice Programme?Drugs Policy Initiatives, EuSeME (project number 861602).

Keywords

Dumping events
Geotemporal resolution
Lithuania
Substance use
Wastewater-based epidemiology

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Environmental Engineering
Environmental Chemistry
Waste Management and Disposal
Pollution

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145914

Cite this

Boogaerts, T., Jurgelaitiene, L., Dumitrascu, C., Kasprzyk-Hordern, B., Kannan, A., Been, F., Emke, E., de Voogt, P., Covaci, A., & van Nuijs, A. L. N. (2021). Application of wastewater-based epidemiology to investigate stimulant drug, alcohol and tobacco use in Lithuanian communities. Science of the Total Environment, 777, Article 145914. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145914

Boogaerts, T, Jurgelaitiene, L, Dumitrascu, C, Kasprzyk-Hordern, B, Kannan, A, Been, F, Emke, E, de Voogt, P, Covaci, A & van Nuijs, ALN 2021, 'Application of wastewater-based epidemiology to investigate stimulant drug, alcohol and tobacco use in Lithuanian communities', Science of the Total Environment, vol. 777, 145914. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145914

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title = "Application of wastewater-based epidemiology to investigate stimulant drug, alcohol and tobacco use in Lithuanian communities",

abstract = "WBE was applied to evaluate illicit drug (i.e. amphetamine, cocaine, MDMA and methamphetamine), alcohol and tobacco use in three Lithuanian cities in 2018 and 2019. Considerable concentrations of methamphetamine and MDMA were found in the three locations, suggesting a specific Lithuanian consumption pattern. Yet, unexpected high concentrations of amphetamine (>4 μg/L) were detected in two samples of Kaunas in 2018. Through the use of chiral analysis and non-target and suspect drug precursor compound screening, these extreme values were confirmed to be the result of direct disposal of amphetamine in the sewers. Furthermore, substantial alcohol use was measured in the three investigated catchment populations of Lithuania with almost 4 standard drinks/day/inhabitant aged 15+ on average in 2019. For tobacco, an average of 5.6 cigarettes/day/inhabitant aged 15+ in 2019 was reported with large discrepancies between WBE figures and sales data, potentially highlighting illegal trade of tobacco products.",

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author = "Tim Boogaerts and Lina Jurgelaitiene and Catalina Dumitrascu and Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern and Andrew Kannan and Frederic Been and Erik Emke and {de Voogt}, Pim and Adrian Covaci and {van Nuijs}, {Alexander L.N.}",

note = "Funding Information: The authors would like to thank the WWTP personnel (UAB Vilniaus vandenys, Head of laboratory Eglė Luko{\v s}evi{\v c}ienė; AB Klaipėdos vanduo, Head of laboratory Nijole Domarkiene; UAB Kauno vandenys, Chief technologist of watewater treatment plant) for their support in sampling. This study was funded by the European Union's Justice Programme—Drugs Policy Initiatives , EuSeME (project number 861602 ). Funding Information: The authors would like to thank the WWTP personnel (UAB Vilniaus vandenys, Head of laboratory Egl? Luko?evi?ien?; AB Klaip?dos vanduo, Head of laboratory Nijole Domarkiene; UAB Kauno vandenys, Chief technologist of watewater treatment plant) for their support in sampling. This study was funded by the European Union's Justice Programme?Drugs Policy Initiatives, EuSeME (project number 861602). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 Elsevier B.V. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",

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doi = "10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145914",

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AU - Boogaerts, Tim

AU - Jurgelaitiene, Lina

AU - Dumitrascu, Catalina

AU - Kasprzyk-Hordern, Barbara

AU - Kannan, Andrew

AU - Been, Frederic

AU - Emke, Erik

AU - de Voogt, Pim

AU - Covaci, Adrian

AU - van Nuijs, Alexander L.N.

N1 - Funding Information: The authors would like to thank the WWTP personnel (UAB Vilniaus vandenys, Head of laboratory Eglė Lukoševičienė; AB Klaipėdos vanduo, Head of laboratory Nijole Domarkiene; UAB Kauno vandenys, Chief technologist of watewater treatment plant) for their support in sampling. This study was funded by the European Union's Justice Programme—Drugs Policy Initiatives , EuSeME (project number 861602 ). Funding Information: The authors would like to thank the WWTP personnel (UAB Vilniaus vandenys, Head of laboratory Egl? Luko?evi?ien?; AB Klaip?dos vanduo, Head of laboratory Nijole Domarkiene; UAB Kauno vandenys, Chief technologist of watewater treatment plant) for their support in sampling. This study was funded by the European Union's Justice Programme?Drugs Policy Initiatives, EuSeME (project number 861602). Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Elsevier B.V. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2021/7/10

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N2 - WBE was applied to evaluate illicit drug (i.e. amphetamine, cocaine, MDMA and methamphetamine), alcohol and tobacco use in three Lithuanian cities in 2018 and 2019. Considerable concentrations of methamphetamine and MDMA were found in the three locations, suggesting a specific Lithuanian consumption pattern. Yet, unexpected high concentrations of amphetamine (>4 μg/L) were detected in two samples of Kaunas in 2018. Through the use of chiral analysis and non-target and suspect drug precursor compound screening, these extreme values were confirmed to be the result of direct disposal of amphetamine in the sewers. Furthermore, substantial alcohol use was measured in the three investigated catchment populations of Lithuania with almost 4 standard drinks/day/inhabitant aged 15+ on average in 2019. For tobacco, an average of 5.6 cigarettes/day/inhabitant aged 15+ in 2019 was reported with large discrepancies between WBE figures and sales data, potentially highlighting illegal trade of tobacco products.

AB - WBE was applied to evaluate illicit drug (i.e. amphetamine, cocaine, MDMA and methamphetamine), alcohol and tobacco use in three Lithuanian cities in 2018 and 2019. Considerable concentrations of methamphetamine and MDMA were found in the three locations, suggesting a specific Lithuanian consumption pattern. Yet, unexpected high concentrations of amphetamine (>4 μg/L) were detected in two samples of Kaunas in 2018. Through the use of chiral analysis and non-target and suspect drug precursor compound screening, these extreme values were confirmed to be the result of direct disposal of amphetamine in the sewers. Furthermore, substantial alcohol use was measured in the three investigated catchment populations of Lithuania with almost 4 standard drinks/day/inhabitant aged 15+ on average in 2019. For tobacco, an average of 5.6 cigarettes/day/inhabitant aged 15+ in 2019 was reported with large discrepancies between WBE figures and sales data, potentially highlighting illegal trade of tobacco products.

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Application of wastewater-based epidemiology to investigate stimulant drug, alcohol and tobacco use in Lithuanian communities

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

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Cite this