Spatio-temporal assessment of illicit drug use at large scale: evidence from 7 years of international wastewater monitoring

Iria González-Mariño; Jose Antonio Baz-Lomba; Nikiforos A Alygizakis; Maria Jesús Andrés-Costa; Richard Bade; Leon P Barron; Frederic Been; Jean-Daniel Berset; Lubertus Bijlsma; Igor Bodík; Asher Brenner; Andreas Libonati Brock; Daniel A Burgard; Erika Castrignanò; Christophoros E Christophoridis; Adrian Covaci; Pim de Voogt; Damien A Devault; Mário J Dias; Erik Emke; Despo Fatta-Kassinos; Ganna Fedorova; Konstantinos Fytianos; Cobus Gerber; Roman Grabic; Stefan Grüner; Teemu Gunnar; Evroula Hapeshi; Ester Heath; Björn Helm; Félix Hernández; Aino Kankaanpaa; Sara Karolak; Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern; Ivona Krizman-Matasic; Foon Yin Lai; Wojciech Lechowicz; Alvaro Lopes; Miren López de Alda; Ester López-García; Arndís S C Löve; Nicola Mastroianni; Gillian L McEneff; Rosa Montes; Kelly Munro; Thomas Nefau; Herbert Oberacher; Jake W O'Brien; Kristin Olafsdottir; Yolanda Picó; Benedek G. Plósz; Fabio Polesel; Cristina Postigo; José Benito Quintana; Pedram Ramin; Malcolm J Reid; Jack Rice; Rosario Rodil; Ivan Senta; Susana M Simões; Maja M Sremacki; Katarzyna Styszko; Senka Terzic; Nikolaos S Thomaidis; Kevin V Thomas; Ben J Tscharke; Alexander L N van Nuijs; Viviane Yargeau; Ettore Zuccato; Sara Castiglioni; Christoph Ort

doi:10.1111/add.14767

Spatio-temporal assessment of illicit drug use at large scale: evidence from 7 years of international wastewater monitoring

Iria González-Mariño^*, Jose Antonio Baz-Lomba, Nikiforos A Alygizakis, Maria Jesús Andrés-Costa, Richard Bade, Leon P Barron, Frederic Been, Jean-Daniel Berset, Lubertus Bijlsma, Igor Bodík, Asher Brenner, Andreas Libonati Brock, Daniel A Burgard, Erika Castrignanò, Christophoros E Christophoridis, Adrian Covaci, Pim de Voogt, Damien A Devault, Mário J Dias, Erik EmkeDespo Fatta-Kassinos, Ganna Fedorova, Konstantinos Fytianos, Cobus Gerber, Roman Grabic, Stefan Grüner, Teemu Gunnar, Evroula Hapeshi, Ester Heath, Björn Helm, Félix Hernández, Aino Kankaanpaa, Sara Karolak, Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern, Ivona Krizman-Matasic, Foon Yin Lai, Wojciech Lechowicz, Alvaro Lopes, Miren López de Alda, Ester López-García, Arndís S C Löve, Nicola Mastroianni, Gillian L McEneff, Rosa Montes, Kelly Munro, Thomas Nefau, Herbert Oberacher, Jake W O'Brien, Kristin Olafsdottir, Yolanda Picó, Benedek G. Plósz, Fabio Polesel, Cristina Postigo, José Benito Quintana, Pedram Ramin, Malcolm J Reid, Jack Rice, Rosario Rodil, Ivan Senta, Susana M Simões, Maja M Sremacki, Katarzyna Styszko, Senka Terzic, Nikolaos S Thomaidis, Kevin V Thomas, Ben J Tscharke, Alexander L N van Nuijs, Viviane Yargeau, Ettore Zuccato, Sara Castiglioni, Christoph Ort

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

128 Downloads (Orbit)

Abstract

Wastewater-based epidemiology is an additional indicator of drug use that is gaining reliability to complement the current established panel of indicators. The aims of this study were to: (i) assess spatial and temporal trends of population-normalized mass loads of benzoylecgonine, amphetamine, methamphetamine and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in raw wastewater over 7 years (2011-17); (ii) address overall drug use by estimating the average number of combined doses consumed per day in each city; and (iii) compare these with existing prevalence and seizure data. Analysis of daily raw wastewater composite samples collected over 1 week per year from 2011 to 2017. Catchment areas of 143 wastewater treatment plants in 120 cities in 37 countries. Parent substances (amphetamine, methamphetamine and MDMA) and the metabolites of cocaine (benzoylecgonine) and of Δ9 -tetrahydrocannabinol (11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9 -tetrahydrocannabinol) were measured in wastewater using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Daily mass loads (mg/day) were normalized to catchment population (mg/1000 people/day) and converted to the number of combined doses consumed per day. Spatial differences were assessed world-wide, and temporal trends were discerned at European level by comparing 2011-13 drug loads versus 2014-17 loads. Benzoylecgonine was the stimulant metabolite detected at higher loads in southern and western Europe, and amphetamine, MDMA and methamphetamine in East and North-Central Europe. In other continents, methamphetamine showed the highest levels in the United States and Australia and benzoylecgonine in South America. During the reporting period, benzoylecgonine loads increased in general across Europe, amphetamine and methamphetamine levels fluctuated and MDMA underwent an intermittent upsurge. The analysis of wastewater to quantify drug loads provides near real-time drug use estimates that globally correspond to prevalence and seizure data.

Original language	English
Journal	Addiction
Volume	115
Issue number	1
ISSN	0965-2140
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/add.14767
Publication status	Published - 2020

Keywords

Amphetamine
Cocaine
Ecstasy/MDMA
Illicit drugs
Methamphetamine
Wastewater-based epidemiology

Access to Document

10.1111/add.14767

fulltextFinal published version, 17.5 MB

OpenUrl availability

Full text

Cite this

González-Mariño, I., Baz-Lomba, J. A., Alygizakis, N. A., Andrés-Costa, M. J., Bade, R., Barron, L. P., Been, F., Berset, J.-D., Bijlsma, L., Bodík, I., Brenner, A., Brock, A. L., Burgard, D. A., Castrignanò, E., Christophoridis, C. E., Covaci, A., de Voogt, P., Devault, D. A., Dias, M. J., ... Ort, C. (2020). Spatio-temporal assessment of illicit drug use at large scale: evidence from 7 years of international wastewater monitoring. Addiction, 115(1). https://doi.org/10.1111/add.14767

@article{190aaa93595d434fb8d6cd0bb7d15dec,

title = "Spatio-temporal assessment of illicit drug use at large scale: evidence from 7 years of international wastewater monitoring",

abstract = "Wastewater-based epidemiology is an additional indicator of drug use that is gaining reliability to complement the current established panel of indicators. The aims of this study were to: (i) assess spatial and temporal trends of population-normalized mass loads of benzoylecgonine, amphetamine, methamphetamine and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in raw wastewater over 7 years (2011-17); (ii) address overall drug use by estimating the average number of combined doses consumed per day in each city; and (iii) compare these with existing prevalence and seizure data. Analysis of daily raw wastewater composite samples collected over 1 week per year from 2011 to 2017. Catchment areas of 143 wastewater treatment plants in 120 cities in 37 countries. Parent substances (amphetamine, methamphetamine and MDMA) and the metabolites of cocaine (benzoylecgonine) and of Δ9 -tetrahydrocannabinol (11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9 -tetrahydrocannabinol) were measured in wastewater using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Daily mass loads (mg/day) were normalized to catchment population (mg/1000 people/day) and converted to the number of combined doses consumed per day. Spatial differences were assessed world-wide, and temporal trends were discerned at European level by comparing 2011-13 drug loads versus 2014-17 loads. Benzoylecgonine was the stimulant metabolite detected at higher loads in southern and western Europe, and amphetamine, MDMA and methamphetamine in East and North-Central Europe. In other continents, methamphetamine showed the highest levels in the United States and Australia and benzoylecgonine in South America. During the reporting period, benzoylecgonine loads increased in general across Europe, amphetamine and methamphetamine levels fluctuated and MDMA underwent an intermittent upsurge. The analysis of wastewater to quantify drug loads provides near real-time drug use estimates that globally correspond to prevalence and seizure data.",

keywords = "Amphetamine, Cocaine, Ecstasy/MDMA, Illicit drugs, Methamphetamine, Wastewater-based epidemiology",

author = "Iria Gonz{\'a}lez-Mari{\~n}o and Baz-Lomba, {Jose Antonio} and Alygizakis, {Nikiforos A} and Andr{\'e}s-Costa, {Maria Jes{\'u}s} and Richard Bade and Barron, {Leon P} and Frederic Been and Jean-Daniel Berset and Lubertus Bijlsma and Igor Bod{\'i}k and Asher Brenner and Brock, {Andreas Libonati} and Burgard, {Daniel A} and Erika Castrignan{\`o} and Christophoridis, {Christophoros E} and Adrian Covaci and {de Voogt}, Pim and Devault, {Damien A} and Dias, {M{\'a}rio J} and Erik Emke and Despo Fatta-Kassinos and Ganna Fedorova and Konstantinos Fytianos and Cobus Gerber and Roman Grabic and Stefan Gr{\"u}ner and Teemu Gunnar and Evroula Hapeshi and Ester Heath and Bj{\"o}rn Helm and F{\'e}lix Hern{\'a}ndez and Aino Kankaanpaa and Sara Karolak and Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern and Ivona Krizman-Matasic and Lai, {Foon Yin} and Wojciech Lechowicz and Alvaro Lopes and {L{\'o}pez de Alda}, Miren and Ester L{\'o}pez-Garc{\'i}a and L{\"o}ve, {Arnd{\'i}s S C} and Nicola Mastroianni and McEneff, {Gillian L} and Rosa Montes and Kelly Munro and Thomas Nefau and Herbert Oberacher and O'Brien, {Jake W} and Kristin Olafsdottir and Yolanda Pic{\'o} and Pl{\'o}sz, {Benedek G.} and Fabio Polesel and Cristina Postigo and Quintana, {Jos{\'e} Benito} and Pedram Ramin and Reid, {Malcolm J} and Jack Rice and Rosario Rodil and Ivan Senta and Sim{\~o}es, {Susana M} and Sremacki, {Maja M} and Katarzyna Styszko and Senka Terzic and Thomaidis, {Nikolaos S} and Thomas, {Kevin V} and Tscharke, {Ben J} and {van Nuijs}, {Alexander L N} and Viviane Yargeau and Ettore Zuccato and Sara Castiglioni and Christoph Ort",

year = "2020",

doi = "10.1111/add.14767",

language = "English",

volume = "115",

journal = "Addiction",

issn = "0965-2140",

publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell",

number = "1",

}

González-Mariño, I, Baz-Lomba, JA, Alygizakis, NA, Andrés-Costa, MJ, Bade, R, Barron, LP, Been, F, Berset, J-D, Bijlsma, L, Bodík, I, Brenner, A, Brock, AL, Burgard, DA, Castrignanò, E, Christophoridis, CE, Covaci, A, de Voogt, P, Devault, DA, Dias, MJ, Emke, E, Fatta-Kassinos, D, Fedorova, G, Fytianos, K, Gerber, C, Grabic, R, Grüner, S, Gunnar, T, Hapeshi, E, Heath, E, Helm, B, Hernández, F, Kankaanpaa, A, Karolak, S, Kasprzyk-Hordern, B, Krizman-Matasic, I, Lai, FY, Lechowicz, W, Lopes, A, López de Alda, M, López-García, E, Löve, ASC, Mastroianni, N, McEneff, GL, Montes, R, Munro, K, Nefau, T, Oberacher, H, O'Brien, JW, Olafsdottir, K, Picó, Y, Plósz, BG, Polesel, F, Postigo, C, Quintana, JB, Ramin, P, Reid, MJ, Rice, J, Rodil, R, Senta, I, Simões, SM, Sremacki, MM, Styszko, K, Terzic, S, Thomaidis, NS, Thomas, KV, Tscharke, BJ, van Nuijs, ALN, Yargeau, V, Zuccato, E, Castiglioni, S & Ort, C 2020, 'Spatio-temporal assessment of illicit drug use at large scale: evidence from 7 years of international wastewater monitoring', Addiction, vol. 115, no. 1. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.14767

TY - JOUR

T1 - Spatio-temporal assessment of illicit drug use at large scale: evidence from 7 years of international wastewater monitoring

AU - González-Mariño, Iria

AU - Baz-Lomba, Jose Antonio

AU - Alygizakis, Nikiforos A

AU - Andrés-Costa, Maria Jesús

AU - Bade, Richard

AU - Barron, Leon P

AU - Been, Frederic

AU - Berset, Jean-Daniel

AU - Bijlsma, Lubertus

AU - Bodík, Igor

AU - Brenner, Asher

AU - Brock, Andreas Libonati

AU - Burgard, Daniel A

AU - Castrignanò, Erika

AU - Christophoridis, Christophoros E

AU - Covaci, Adrian

AU - de Voogt, Pim

AU - Devault, Damien A

AU - Dias, Mário J

AU - Emke, Erik

AU - Fatta-Kassinos, Despo

AU - Fedorova, Ganna

AU - Fytianos, Konstantinos

AU - Gerber, Cobus

AU - Grabic, Roman

AU - Grüner, Stefan

AU - Gunnar, Teemu

AU - Hapeshi, Evroula

AU - Heath, Ester

AU - Helm, Björn

AU - Hernández, Félix

AU - Kankaanpaa, Aino

AU - Karolak, Sara

AU - Kasprzyk-Hordern, Barbara

AU - Krizman-Matasic, Ivona

AU - Lai, Foon Yin

AU - Lechowicz, Wojciech

AU - Lopes, Alvaro

AU - López de Alda, Miren

AU - López-García, Ester

AU - Löve, Arndís S C

AU - Mastroianni, Nicola

AU - McEneff, Gillian L

AU - Montes, Rosa

AU - Munro, Kelly

AU - Nefau, Thomas

AU - Oberacher, Herbert

AU - O'Brien, Jake W

AU - Olafsdottir, Kristin

AU - Picó, Yolanda

AU - Plósz, Benedek G.

AU - Polesel, Fabio

AU - Postigo, Cristina

AU - Quintana, José Benito

AU - Ramin, Pedram

AU - Reid, Malcolm J

AU - Rice, Jack

AU - Rodil, Rosario

AU - Senta, Ivan

AU - Simões, Susana M

AU - Sremacki, Maja M

AU - Styszko, Katarzyna

AU - Terzic, Senka

AU - Thomaidis, Nikolaos S

AU - Thomas, Kevin V

AU - Tscharke, Ben J

AU - van Nuijs, Alexander L N

AU - Yargeau, Viviane

AU - Zuccato, Ettore

AU - Castiglioni, Sara

AU - Ort, Christoph

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - Wastewater-based epidemiology is an additional indicator of drug use that is gaining reliability to complement the current established panel of indicators. The aims of this study were to: (i) assess spatial and temporal trends of population-normalized mass loads of benzoylecgonine, amphetamine, methamphetamine and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in raw wastewater over 7 years (2011-17); (ii) address overall drug use by estimating the average number of combined doses consumed per day in each city; and (iii) compare these with existing prevalence and seizure data. Analysis of daily raw wastewater composite samples collected over 1 week per year from 2011 to 2017. Catchment areas of 143 wastewater treatment plants in 120 cities in 37 countries. Parent substances (amphetamine, methamphetamine and MDMA) and the metabolites of cocaine (benzoylecgonine) and of Δ9 -tetrahydrocannabinol (11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9 -tetrahydrocannabinol) were measured in wastewater using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Daily mass loads (mg/day) were normalized to catchment population (mg/1000 people/day) and converted to the number of combined doses consumed per day. Spatial differences were assessed world-wide, and temporal trends were discerned at European level by comparing 2011-13 drug loads versus 2014-17 loads. Benzoylecgonine was the stimulant metabolite detected at higher loads in southern and western Europe, and amphetamine, MDMA and methamphetamine in East and North-Central Europe. In other continents, methamphetamine showed the highest levels in the United States and Australia and benzoylecgonine in South America. During the reporting period, benzoylecgonine loads increased in general across Europe, amphetamine and methamphetamine levels fluctuated and MDMA underwent an intermittent upsurge. The analysis of wastewater to quantify drug loads provides near real-time drug use estimates that globally correspond to prevalence and seizure data.

AB - Wastewater-based epidemiology is an additional indicator of drug use that is gaining reliability to complement the current established panel of indicators. The aims of this study were to: (i) assess spatial and temporal trends of population-normalized mass loads of benzoylecgonine, amphetamine, methamphetamine and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in raw wastewater over 7 years (2011-17); (ii) address overall drug use by estimating the average number of combined doses consumed per day in each city; and (iii) compare these with existing prevalence and seizure data. Analysis of daily raw wastewater composite samples collected over 1 week per year from 2011 to 2017. Catchment areas of 143 wastewater treatment plants in 120 cities in 37 countries. Parent substances (amphetamine, methamphetamine and MDMA) and the metabolites of cocaine (benzoylecgonine) and of Δ9 -tetrahydrocannabinol (11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9 -tetrahydrocannabinol) were measured in wastewater using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Daily mass loads (mg/day) were normalized to catchment population (mg/1000 people/day) and converted to the number of combined doses consumed per day. Spatial differences were assessed world-wide, and temporal trends were discerned at European level by comparing 2011-13 drug loads versus 2014-17 loads. Benzoylecgonine was the stimulant metabolite detected at higher loads in southern and western Europe, and amphetamine, MDMA and methamphetamine in East and North-Central Europe. In other continents, methamphetamine showed the highest levels in the United States and Australia and benzoylecgonine in South America. During the reporting period, benzoylecgonine loads increased in general across Europe, amphetamine and methamphetamine levels fluctuated and MDMA underwent an intermittent upsurge. The analysis of wastewater to quantify drug loads provides near real-time drug use estimates that globally correspond to prevalence and seizure data.

KW - Amphetamine

KW - Cocaine

KW - Ecstasy/MDMA

KW - Illicit drugs

KW - Methamphetamine

KW - Wastewater-based epidemiology

U2 - 10.1111/add.14767

DO - 10.1111/add.14767

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 31642141

SN - 0965-2140

VL - 115

JO - Addiction

JF - Addiction

IS - 1

ER -

Spatio-temporal assessment of illicit drug use at large scale: evidence from 7 years of international wastewater monitoring

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

OpenUrl availability

Fingerprint

Cite this