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Dominant psychoactive drugs in the Central European region: A wastewater study

Published

5 years ago

August 24, 2016

Republished by Plato

. 2016 Oct;267:42-51.

doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2016.08.016. Epub 2016 Aug 12.

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology, Radlinského 9, 812 37 Bratislava, Slovakia. Electronic address: tomas.mackulak@stuba.sk.
² Institute of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology, Radlinského 9, 812 37 Bratislava, Slovakia.
³ Faculty of Commerce, Department of Business Information Technology, University of Economics in Bratislava, Dolnozemská cesta 1, 85235 Bratislava, Slovakia.
⁴ Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice, Zatisi 728/II, 389 01 Vodnany, Czech Republic.
⁵ Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Mlynská dolina – Ilkovičova 6, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia.
⁶ Department of Inorganic Technology, Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology, Radlinského 9, 812 37 Bratislava, Slovakia.
⁷ Institute of Chemistry, University in Bialystok, K. Ciolkowskiego 1K, 15-245 Białystok, Poland.

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Tomáš Mackuľak et al. Forensic Sci Int. 2016 Oct.

. 2016 Oct;267:42-51.

doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2016.08.016. Epub 2016 Aug 12.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology, Radlinského 9, 812 37 Bratislava, Slovakia. Electronic address: tomas.mackulak@stuba.sk.
² Institute of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology, Radlinského 9, 812 37 Bratislava, Slovakia.
³ Faculty of Commerce, Department of Business Information Technology, University of Economics in Bratislava, Dolnozemská cesta 1, 85235 Bratislava, Slovakia.
⁴ Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice, Zatisi 728/II, 389 01 Vodnany, Czech Republic.
⁵ Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Mlynská dolina – Ilkovičova 6, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia.
⁶ Department of Inorganic Technology, Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology, Radlinského 9, 812 37 Bratislava, Slovakia.
⁷ Institute of Chemistry, University in Bialystok, K. Ciolkowskiego 1K, 15-245 Białystok, Poland.

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze 26 various illicit drugs, psychopharmaceuticals and metabolites thereof in sewer from 17 selected wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in the Slovak and Czech Republics. Urinary bio-markers used were analyzed using liquid chromatography coupled with the tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). We then compared our results with data obtained in other parts of Europe and the world. The present study shows that the Slovak and Czech Republics have one of the highest methamphetamine consumption rates in Europe. Within Slovakia, the highest level of methamphetamine consumption was found in Dunajská Streda with the mean specific load of the drug in sewage being up to 479mg/day/1000 inhabitants; the next highest load was detected in Trnava (354mg/day/1000 inhabitants). The methamphetamine, ecstasy and cannabis consumptions in our study were comparable to those found in other European cities, whereas cocaine consumption was lower. Among all of the studied psychopharmaceuticals, tramadol and venlafaxine were represented in the highest concentrations. The highest mean specific load of tramadol was detected in the spa town of Piešťany (371mg/day/1000 inhabitants) and Košice (372mg/day/1000 inhabitants), while the highest mean loads of venlafaxine were recorded for the towns of Trenčín (230mg/day/1000 inhabitants) and Piešťany (108mg/day/1000 inhabitants).

Keywords: Drug monitoring; LC–MS/MS; Methamphetamine; Sewage biomarker analysis; Wastewater analysis.

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