The detection of new psychoactive substances in wastewater. A comprehensive review of analytical approaches and global trends

Abstract

New psychoactive substances (NPS) have made a substantial impact on the global drug market through their dynamic spread into recreational drug consumption and the challenges of developing legislative controls. Drug trends are monitored by organizations such as the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which have been utilized for monitoring the presence of NPS. In particular, improved wastewater analysis (WWA) has been used to monitor NPS use successfully. NPS detection in wastewater has allowed the observation of significant drug trends at regional, national and international levels. Approaches to the technique have evolved over time with non-targeted analysis becoming more utilized in recent years as it offers a wider-scope when searching for certain compounds due to the lack of available reference standards for many of the currently known NPS. In addition to the evolution of available analytical technology so too has the scale and complexity of wastewater investigations evolved. Multi-city and multinational studies have provided detailed insight into the complex patterns of NPS abuse over time and space. The field of wastewater analysis has provided significant advancements to our understanding of these important drug trends, but challenges still remain however, both analytical and logistical. Here we review the state of the art in analytical approaches to the analysis of NPS in wastewater, and present global NPS trends ascertained by WWA. • The state of the art in wastewater monitoring for new psychoactive substances • Global drug trends as ascertained by wastewater monitoring • Techniques and technologies for the chemical analysis of wastewater are presented.