New psychoactive substances in several European populations assessed by wastewater-based epidemiology

Sara Castiglioni; Noelia Salgueiro-González; Lubertus Bijlsma; Alberto Celma; Emma Gracia-Lor; Mihail Simion Beldean-Galea; Tomáš Mackuľak; Erik Emke; Ester Heath; Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern; Andjelka Petkovic; Francesco Poretti; Jeliaz Rangelov; Miguel M. Santos; Maja Sremački; Katarzyna Styszko; Felix Hernández; Ettore Zuccato

doi:10.1016/j.watres.2021.116983

New psychoactive substances in several European populations assessed by wastewater-based epidemiology

Sara Castiglioni, Noelia Salgueiro-González, Lubertus Bijlsma, Alberto Celma, Emma Gracia-Lor, Mihail Simion Beldean-Galea, Tomáš Mackuľak, Erik Emke, Ester Heath, Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern, Andjelka Petkovic, Francesco Poretti, Jeliaz Rangelov, Miguel M. Santos, Maja Sremački, Katarzyna Styszko, Felix Hernández, Ettore Zuccato

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

47 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) can be a useful tool to face some of the existing challenges in monitoring the use of new psychoactive substances (NPS), as it can provide objective and updated information. This Europe-wide study aimed to verify the suitability of WBE for investigating the use of NPS. Selected NPS were monitored in urban wastewater by high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). The main classical illicit drugs were monitored in the same samples to compare their levels with those of NPS. Raw composite wastewater samples were collected in 2016 and 2017 in 14 European countries (22 cities) following best practice sampling protocols. Methcathinone was most frequent (>65% of the cities), followed by mephedrone (>25% of the cities), and only mephedrone, methcathinone and methylone were found in both years. This study depicts the use of NPS in Europe, confirming that it is much lower than the use of classical drugs. WBE proved able to assess the qualitative and quantitative spatial and temporal profiles of NPS use. The results show the changeable nature of the NPS market and the importance of large WBE monitoring campaigns for selected priority NPS. WBE is valuable for complementing epidemiological studies to follow rapidly changing profiles of use of drugs.

Original language	English
Article number	116983
Journal	Water Research
Volume	195
Early online date	27 Feb 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2021.116983
Publication status	Published - 1 May 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Lubertus Bijlsma wishes to thank Ettore Zuccato, Sara Castiglioni and the Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri (Milan, Italy) for hosting him as a post-doc researcher. Alberto Celma acknowledges the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness for his predoctoral grant (BES-2016-076914). F?lix Hern?ndez acknowledges MINECO (Project CTQ2015-65603-P), as well as Generalitat Valenciana (Research Group of Excellence, Prometeo 2019/040). The collecting of samples in Krakow was supported by ??Municipal Waterworks and Sewer Enterprise in Krakow??. We greatly acknowledge Igor Bod?k, Slovak University of Technology, Bratislava, Slovakia; Fiona Regan Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland; Jaroslav Slobodnik and Natalia Glowacka, Environmental Institute of Kos, Slovak Republic; Mariya Skobley, Ukraine, for the help provided for samples collection. Wessex Water is acknowledged for samples provision in the UK. This work was supported by the European Commission [grant HOME/2014/JDRUG/AG/DRUG/7086 - NPS-Euronet]. This research was partially funded by the AGH UST grant 16.16.210.476 subsidy of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd

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

Keywords

Europe
monitoring
new psychoactive substances
spatial and temporal trends
Urban wastewater
use profiles

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Ecological Modelling
Water Science and Technology
Waste Management and Disposal
Pollution

UN SDGs

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

Access to Document

10.1016/j.watres.2021.116983

Cite this

Castiglioni, S., Salgueiro-González, N., Bijlsma, L., Celma, A., Gracia-Lor, E., Beldean-Galea, M. S., Mackuľak, T., Emke, E., Heath, E., Kasprzyk-Hordern, B., Petkovic, A., Poretti, F., Rangelov, J., Santos, M. M., Sremački, M., Styszko, K., Hernández, F., & Zuccato, E. (2021). New psychoactive substances in several European populations assessed by wastewater-based epidemiology. Water Research, 195, Article 116983. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2021.116983

Castiglioni, S, Salgueiro-González, N, Bijlsma, L, Celma, A, Gracia-Lor, E, Beldean-Galea, MS, Mackuľak, T, Emke, E, Heath, E, Kasprzyk-Hordern, B, Petkovic, A, Poretti, F, Rangelov, J, Santos, MM, Sremački, M, Styszko, K, Hernández, F & Zuccato, E 2021, 'New psychoactive substances in several European populations assessed by wastewater-based epidemiology', Water Research, vol. 195, 116983. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2021.116983

@article{6bae881ace104f36946f333761fd416d,

title = "New psychoactive substances in several European populations assessed by wastewater-based epidemiology",

abstract = "Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) can be a useful tool to face some of the existing challenges in monitoring the use of new psychoactive substances (NPS), as it can provide objective and updated information. This Europe-wide study aimed to verify the suitability of WBE for investigating the use of NPS. Selected NPS were monitored in urban wastewater by high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). The main classical illicit drugs were monitored in the same samples to compare their levels with those of NPS. Raw composite wastewater samples were collected in 2016 and 2017 in 14 European countries (22 cities) following best practice sampling protocols. Methcathinone was most frequent (>65% of the cities), followed by mephedrone (>25% of the cities), and only mephedrone, methcathinone and methylone were found in both years. This study depicts the use of NPS in Europe, confirming that it is much lower than the use of classical drugs. WBE proved able to assess the qualitative and quantitative spatial and temporal profiles of NPS use. The results show the changeable nature of the NPS market and the importance of large WBE monitoring campaigns for selected priority NPS. WBE is valuable for complementing epidemiological studies to follow rapidly changing profiles of use of drugs.",

keywords = "Europe, monitoring, new psychoactive substances, spatial and temporal trends, Urban wastewater, use profiles",

author = "Sara Castiglioni and Noelia Salgueiro-Gonz{\'a}lez and Lubertus Bijlsma and Alberto Celma and Emma Gracia-Lor and Beldean-Galea, {Mihail Simion} and Tom{\'a}{\v s} Macku{\v I}ak and Erik Emke and Ester Heath and Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern and Andjelka Petkovic and Francesco Poretti and Jeliaz Rangelov and Santos, {Miguel M.} and Maja Srema{\v c}ki and Katarzyna Styszko and Felix Hern{\'a}ndez and Ettore Zuccato",

note = "Funding Information: Lubertus Bijlsma wishes to thank Ettore Zuccato, Sara Castiglioni and the Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri (Milan, Italy) for hosting him as a post-doc researcher. Alberto Celma acknowledges the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness for his predoctoral grant (BES-2016-076914). F?lix Hern?ndez acknowledges MINECO (Project CTQ2015-65603-P), as well as Generalitat Valenciana (Research Group of Excellence, Prometeo 2019/040). The collecting of samples in Krakow was supported by ??Municipal Waterworks and Sewer Enterprise in Krakow??. We greatly acknowledge Igor Bod?k, Slovak University of Technology, Bratislava, Slovakia; Fiona Regan Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland; Jaroslav Slobodnik and Natalia Glowacka, Environmental Institute of Kos, Slovak Republic; Mariya Skobley, Ukraine, for the help provided for samples collection. Wessex Water is acknowledged for samples provision in the UK. This work was supported by the European Commission [grant HOME/2014/JDRUG/AG/DRUG/7086 - NPS-Euronet]. This research was partially funded by the AGH UST grant 16.16.210.476 subsidy of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 Elsevier Ltd Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",

year = "2021",

month = may,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1016/j.watres.2021.116983",

language = "English",

volume = "195",

journal = "Water Research",

issn = "0043-1354",

publisher = "Elsevier",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - New psychoactive substances in several European populations assessed by wastewater-based epidemiology

AU - Castiglioni, Sara

AU - Salgueiro-González, Noelia

AU - Bijlsma, Lubertus

AU - Celma, Alberto

AU - Gracia-Lor, Emma

AU - Beldean-Galea, Mihail Simion

AU - Mackuľak, Tomáš

AU - Emke, Erik

AU - Heath, Ester

AU - Kasprzyk-Hordern, Barbara

AU - Petkovic, Andjelka

AU - Poretti, Francesco

AU - Rangelov, Jeliaz

AU - Santos, Miguel M.

AU - Sremački, Maja

AU - Styszko, Katarzyna

AU - Hernández, Felix

AU - Zuccato, Ettore

N1 - Funding Information: Lubertus Bijlsma wishes to thank Ettore Zuccato, Sara Castiglioni and the Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri (Milan, Italy) for hosting him as a post-doc researcher. Alberto Celma acknowledges the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness for his predoctoral grant (BES-2016-076914). F?lix Hern?ndez acknowledges MINECO (Project CTQ2015-65603-P), as well as Generalitat Valenciana (Research Group of Excellence, Prometeo 2019/040). The collecting of samples in Krakow was supported by ??Municipal Waterworks and Sewer Enterprise in Krakow??. We greatly acknowledge Igor Bod?k, Slovak University of Technology, Bratislava, Slovakia; Fiona Regan Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland; Jaroslav Slobodnik and Natalia Glowacka, Environmental Institute of Kos, Slovak Republic; Mariya Skobley, Ukraine, for the help provided for samples collection. Wessex Water is acknowledged for samples provision in the UK. This work was supported by the European Commission [grant HOME/2014/JDRUG/AG/DRUG/7086 - NPS-Euronet]. This research was partially funded by the AGH UST grant 16.16.210.476 subsidy of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Elsevier Ltd Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2021/5/1

Y1 - 2021/5/1

N2 - Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) can be a useful tool to face some of the existing challenges in monitoring the use of new psychoactive substances (NPS), as it can provide objective and updated information. This Europe-wide study aimed to verify the suitability of WBE for investigating the use of NPS. Selected NPS were monitored in urban wastewater by high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). The main classical illicit drugs were monitored in the same samples to compare their levels with those of NPS. Raw composite wastewater samples were collected in 2016 and 2017 in 14 European countries (22 cities) following best practice sampling protocols. Methcathinone was most frequent (>65% of the cities), followed by mephedrone (>25% of the cities), and only mephedrone, methcathinone and methylone were found in both years. This study depicts the use of NPS in Europe, confirming that it is much lower than the use of classical drugs. WBE proved able to assess the qualitative and quantitative spatial and temporal profiles of NPS use. The results show the changeable nature of the NPS market and the importance of large WBE monitoring campaigns for selected priority NPS. WBE is valuable for complementing epidemiological studies to follow rapidly changing profiles of use of drugs.

AB - Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) can be a useful tool to face some of the existing challenges in monitoring the use of new psychoactive substances (NPS), as it can provide objective and updated information. This Europe-wide study aimed to verify the suitability of WBE for investigating the use of NPS. Selected NPS were monitored in urban wastewater by high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). The main classical illicit drugs were monitored in the same samples to compare their levels with those of NPS. Raw composite wastewater samples were collected in 2016 and 2017 in 14 European countries (22 cities) following best practice sampling protocols. Methcathinone was most frequent (>65% of the cities), followed by mephedrone (>25% of the cities), and only mephedrone, methcathinone and methylone were found in both years. This study depicts the use of NPS in Europe, confirming that it is much lower than the use of classical drugs. WBE proved able to assess the qualitative and quantitative spatial and temporal profiles of NPS use. The results show the changeable nature of the NPS market and the importance of large WBE monitoring campaigns for selected priority NPS. WBE is valuable for complementing epidemiological studies to follow rapidly changing profiles of use of drugs.

KW - Europe

KW - monitoring

KW - new psychoactive substances

KW - spatial and temporal trends

KW - Urban wastewater

KW - use profiles

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85102279584&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.watres.2021.116983

DO - 10.1016/j.watres.2021.116983

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85102279584

SN - 0043-1354

VL - 195

JO - Water Research

JF - Water Research

M1 - 116983

ER -

New psychoactive substances in several European populations assessed by wastewater-based epidemiology

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this