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.
Highlights
Drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking is a global phenomenon that causes a broad spectrum of social, health and economic problems[1,2,3,4]
Independent and timely data on the scale, type, and demographics of illegal drug use are essential for a better understanding of drug consumption patterns, as well as for developing improved procedures and operations that can ensure the maximum reduction of the adverse effects of drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking[2,40]
Other aspects of the selection process included the following criteria: stability of the psychoactive substances or their active metabolites in wastewater under the conditions encountered at a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP); specificity of the biomarker that originates exclusively from the drug of abuse; and relatively high concentration levels of the target compounds in excreted urine and wastewater
Summary
Drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking is a global phenomenon that causes a broad spectrum of social, health and economic problems[1,2,3,4]. Waste from drug production discharged into surface waters may harm aquatic life, can potentially contaminate the meat of cattle, which can affect the human food chain, and could further spread hazardous substances into the soil and waterways[7,10] In this context, it is crucial to pay greater attention to developing new methodologies as tools for monitoring illicit drug consumption and its trends and drug trafficking to combat drug abuse and improve quality of life[11,12,13,14,15,16,17]. The main aim of the research presented in this paper was to develop, optimize, validate and apply an SPE-HPLCMS/MS-based procedure for the determination of new psychoactive substances, such as ketamine and mephedrone, and classic illicit drugs, including amphetamine, methamphetamine, 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine, 3,4-methylenedioxyethylamphetamine, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, and the main metabolites of cocaine (benzoylecgonine), heroin (6-acetylmorphine) and marijuana (11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol) in wastewater samples. The performed study is the first to corroborate the data available from the EMCDDA and EUROPOL databases and indicates that the retail market for cocaine is expanding in Eastern Europe, and there is a large production scale of amphetamine in Poland
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