Abstract
Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) can provide objective and timely information on the use of new psychoactive substances (NPS), originally designed as legal alternatives of internationally controlled drugs. NPS have rapidly emerged on the global drug market, posing a challenge to drug policy and constituting a risk to public health. In this study, a WBE approach was applied to monitor the use of more than 300 NPS, together with fentanyl and its main metabolite norfentanyl, in influent wastewater collected from 12 European cities during March-June 2021. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of NPS in composite 24 h influent wastewater samples were based on solid phase extraction and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. In-sample stability tests demonstrated the suitability of most investigated biomarkers, except for a few synthetic opioids, synthetic cannabinoids and phenetylamines. Fentanyl, norfentanyl and eight NPS were quantified in influent wastewater and at least three substances were found in each city, demonstrating their use in Europe. N,N-dimethyltryptamine and 3-methylmethcathinone (3-MMC) were the most common NPS found, with the latter having the highest mass loads (up to 24.8 mg/day/1000 inhabitants). Seven additional substances, belonging to five categories of NPS, were identified in different cities. Spatial trends of NPS use were observed between cities and countries, and a changing weekly profile of use was observed for 3-MMC. WBE is a useful tool to rapidly evaluate emerging trends of NPS use, complementing common indicators (i.e. population surveys, seizures) and helping to establish measures for public health protection.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 121390 |
| Journal | Water Research |
| Volume | 254 |
| Early online date | 27 Feb 2024 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 May 2024 |
Data Availability Statement
No data was used for the research described in the article.Funding
This study was funded by the European Union's Justice Programme - Drugs Policy (EuSeME project number 861602). Mario Negri Institute thanks Dipartimento Politiche Antidroga - Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri, Italy (“Acque reflue” project) for the financial support and the Italian Early Warning System (Italian Institute of Health, ISS) for providing several analytical standards of NPS. Lubertus Bijlsma acknowledges grant RYC2020–028936-I funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 and by “ESF Investing in your future”. A. Covaci, A.L.N. van Nuijs and E. Heath would like to acknowledge FWO ARIS project “Novel approaches for the estimation of the use of psychoactive pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs by wastewater analysis” (N1–0143). The collecting of samples in Krakow was supported by ‘‘Municipal Waterworks and Sewer Enterprise in Krakow’’. Authors are grateful to the personnel from wastewater treatment plants for their collaboration in sample collection and to Kevin Coolen, Francesco Riva and Federica Mancinelli for helping during sample preparation. This research was partially financed by AGH UST statutory tasks No. 16.16.210.476 subsidy of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education and was supported by the program “Excellence initiative—Research University” for the AGH. This study was funded by the European Union's Justice Programme - Drugs Policy (EuSeME project number 861602). Mario Negri Institute thanks Dipartimento Politiche Antidroga - Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri, Italy (“Acque reflue” project) for the financial support and the Italian Early Warning System (Italian Institute of Health, ISS) for providing several analytical standards of NPS. Lubertus Bijlsma acknowledges grant RYC2020–028936-I funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 and by “ESF Investing in your future”. A. Covaci, A.L.N. van Nuijs and E. Heath would like to acknowledge FWO ARIS project “Novel approaches for the estimation of the use of psychoactive pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs by wastewater analysis” (N1–0143). The collecting of samples in Krakow was supported by ‘‘Municipal Waterworks and Sewer Enterprise in Krakow’’. Authors are grateful to the personnel from wastewater treatment plants for their collaboration in sample collection and to Kevin Coolen, Francesco Riva and Federica Mancinelli for helping during sample preparation. This research was partially financed by AGH UST statutory tasks No. 16.16.210.476 subsidy of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education and was supported by the program “Excellence initiative—Research University” for the AGH.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Dipartimento Politiche Antidroga - Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri | |
| Italian Early Warning System | RYC2020–028936-I |
| Justice Programme | 861602 |
| Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek | |
| Ministerstwo Edukacji i Nauki | |
| Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion | |
| European Social Fund Plus | |
| Akademia Górniczo-Hutnicza im. Stanislawa Staszica | 16.16.210.476 |
| Agencia Estatal de Investigación |
Keywords
- 3-methylmethcathinone
- Spatial trends
- Suspect screening
- Synthetic opioids
- Target monitoring
- Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE)
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Environmental Engineering
- Civil and Structural Engineering
- Ecological Modelling
- Water Science and Technology
- Waste Management and Disposal
- Pollution
