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. 2020 Mar 17;10(1):4885.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-61628-5.

Urban wastewater analysis as an effective tool for monitoring illegal drugs, including new psychoactive substances, in the Eastern European region

Anna Maria Sulej-Suchomska  1 , Agnieszka Klupczynska  2 , Paweł Dereziński  2 , Jan Matysiak  2 , Piotr Przybyłowski  3 , Zenon J Kokot  2
Affiliations

Urban wastewater analysis as an effective tool for monitoring illegal drugs, including new psychoactive substances, in the Eastern European region

Anna Maria Sulej-Suchomska et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

The use of illicit drugs causes unquestionable societal and economic damage. To implement actions aimed at combating drug abuse, it is necessary to assess illicit drug consumption patterns. The purpose of this paper was to develop, optimize, validate and apply a procedure for determining new psychoactive substances (NPSs) and classic drugs of abuse and their main metabolites in wastewater samples by using solid phase extraction (SPE) and high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). Moreover, detailed validation of the procedure was conducted. The developed SPE-HPLC-MS/MS procedure (within the sewage-based epidemiology strategy) allowed for the simultaneous, selective, very sensitive, accurate (recoveries ≥ 80.1%) and precise (CV ≤ 8.1%) determination of new and classic psychoactive substances in wastewater samples. This study is characterized by new scientific elements, especially in terms of the freeze-thaw and post-preparative stability of the selected psychoactive substances. This is the first time that NPSs (mephedrone and ketamine), the main metabolites of heroin (6-acetylmorphine, 6-AM) and marijuana (11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol, THC-COOH) have been detected and monitored in Poland. This study is also the first to corroborate the data available from the EMCDDA and EUROPOL report and indicates that the retail market for cocaine is expanding in Eastern Europe.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic representation of the analytical procedure for the determination of illicit drugs in wastewater samples by using an SPE-HPLC-MS/MS-based system.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The concentrations of drugs of abuse in wastewater samples collected at a WWTP in Poznań (Poland) in autumn 2015.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The concentrations of illicit drugs in wastewater samples collected at a WWTP in Poznań (Poland) in spring 2016.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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