TY - JOUR

T1 - Enantiomeric profiling of chiral illicit drugs in a pan-European study

AU - Castrignanò, Erika

AU - Yang, Zhugen

AU - Bade, Richard

AU - Baz-Lomba, Jose A.

AU - Castiglioni, Sara

AU - Causanilles, Ana

AU - Covaci, Adrian

AU - Gracia-Lor, Emma

AU - Hernandez, Felix

AU - Kinyua, Juliet

AU - McCall, Ann Kathrin

AU - van Nuijs, Alexander L.N.

AU - Ort, Christoph

AU - Plósz, Benedek G.

AU - Ramin, Pedram

AU - Rousis, Nikolaos I.

AU - Ryu, Yeonsuk

AU - Thomas, Kevin V.

AU - de Voogt, Pim

AU - Zuccato, Ettore

AU - Kasprzyk-Hordern, Barbara

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration [grant agreement 317205 , the SEWPROF MC ITN project, ‘A new paradigm in drug use and human health risk assessment: Sewage profiling at the community level’]. Wastewater samples were provided by local WWTPs to the University of Bath (United Kingdom) by: Wessex Water, Norwegian Institute for Water Research (Norway), Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Switzerland), Technical University of Denmark (Denmark), Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research (Italy), University of Antwerp (Belgium), KWR Watercycle Research Institute (The Netherlands), University Jaume I (Spain). Erika Castrignanò and Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern planned and designed the study. Erika Castrignanò, Zhugen Yang, Richard Bade, J. Baz-Lomba, Sara Castiglioni, Ana Causanilles, Adrian Covaci, Emma Gracia-Lor, Felix Hernandez, Juliet Kinyua, Ann-Kathrin McCall, Alexander L. N. van Nuijs, Christoph Ort, Benedek G. Plósz, Pedram Ramin, Nikolaos I. Rousis, Yeonsuk Ryu, Kevin V Thomas, Pim de Voogt, Ettore Zuccato and Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern organised the collection of the wastewater samples. Erika Castrignanò prepared and analysed the samples, interpreted the results. Erika Castrignanò and Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern drafted the manuscript, which was critically revised by all co-authors. Publisher Copyright: © 2017

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - The aim of this paper is to present the first study on spatial and temporal variation in the enantiomeric profile of chiral drugs in eight European cities. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) and enantioselective analysis were combined to evaluate trends in illicit drug use in the context of their consumption vs direct disposal as well as their synthetic production routes. Spatial variations in amphetamine loads were observed with higher use in Northern European cities. Enantioselective analysis showed a general enrichment of amphetamine with the R-(−)-enantiomer in wastewater indicating its abuse. High loads of racemic methamphetamine were detected in Oslo (EF = 0.49 ± 0.02). This is in contrast to other European cities where S-(+)-methamphetamine was the predominant enantiomer. This indicates different methods of methamphetamine synthesis and/or trafficking routes in Oslo, compared with the other cities tested. An enrichment of MDMA with the R-(−)-enantiomer was observed in European wastewaters indicating MDMA consumption rather than disposal of unused drug. MDA's chiral signature indicated its enrichment with the S-(+)-enantiomer, which confirms its origin from MDMA metabolism in humans. HMMA was also detected at quantifiable concentrations in wastewater and was found to be a suitable biomarker for MDMA consumption. Mephedrone was only detected in wastewater from the United Kingdom with population-normalised loads up to 47.7 mg 1000 people−1 day−1. The enrichment of mephedrone in the R-(+)-enantiomer in wastewater suggests stereoselective metabolism in humans, hence consumption, rather than direct disposal of the drug. The investigation of drug precursors, such as ephedrine, showed that their presence was reasonably ascribed to their medical use.

AB - The aim of this paper is to present the first study on spatial and temporal variation in the enantiomeric profile of chiral drugs in eight European cities. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) and enantioselective analysis were combined to evaluate trends in illicit drug use in the context of their consumption vs direct disposal as well as their synthetic production routes. Spatial variations in amphetamine loads were observed with higher use in Northern European cities. Enantioselective analysis showed a general enrichment of amphetamine with the R-(−)-enantiomer in wastewater indicating its abuse. High loads of racemic methamphetamine were detected in Oslo (EF = 0.49 ± 0.02). This is in contrast to other European cities where S-(+)-methamphetamine was the predominant enantiomer. This indicates different methods of methamphetamine synthesis and/or trafficking routes in Oslo, compared with the other cities tested. An enrichment of MDMA with the R-(−)-enantiomer was observed in European wastewaters indicating MDMA consumption rather than disposal of unused drug. MDA's chiral signature indicated its enrichment with the S-(+)-enantiomer, which confirms its origin from MDMA metabolism in humans. HMMA was also detected at quantifiable concentrations in wastewater and was found to be a suitable biomarker for MDMA consumption. Mephedrone was only detected in wastewater from the United Kingdom with population-normalised loads up to 47.7 mg 1000 people−1 day−1. The enrichment of mephedrone in the R-(+)-enantiomer in wastewater suggests stereoselective metabolism in humans, hence consumption, rather than direct disposal of the drug. The investigation of drug precursors, such as ephedrine, showed that their presence was reasonably ascribed to their medical use.

KW - Chiral drugs

KW - Enantioselective analysis

KW - Illicit drugs

KW - Wastewater-based epidemiology

U2 - 10.1016/j.watres.2017.11.051

DO - 10.1016/j.watres.2017.11.051

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 29216482

AN - SCOPUS:85036538069

VL - 130

SP - 151

EP - 160

JO - Water Research

JF - Water Research

SN - 0043-1354

ER -