TY - JOUR

T1 - Investigating in-sewer transformation products formed from synthetic cathinones and phenethylamines using liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry

AU - Kinyua, Juliet

AU - Negreira, Noelia

AU - McCall, Ann Kathrin

AU - Boogaerts, Tim

AU - Ort, Christoph

AU - Covaci, Adrian

AU - van Nuijs, Alexander L.N.

N1 - Funding Information: We would like to thank the staff at Toxicological Center (UA), Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Philanthropic Educational Organization (PEO) and American Association of University Women (AAUW) for their support. Financial support: Dr. Juliet Kinyua acknowledges the EU International Training Network SEWPROF (Marie Curie- Grant number 317205 ) for her grant. Part of this work was supported by the COST Action ES1307 “SCORE – Sewage biomarker analysis for community health assessment”. Dr. Alexander van Nuijs and Dr. Noelia Negreira acknowledge the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) and University of Antwerp for their respective post-doctoral fellowships. Publisher Copyright: © 2018 Elsevier B.V.

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - Recent studies have demonstrated the role of biofilms on the stability of drug residues in wastewater. These factors are pertinent in wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) when estimating community-level drug use. However, there is scarce information on the biotransformation of drug residues in the presence of biofilms and the potential use of transformation products (TPs) as biomarkers in WBE. The purpose of this work was to investigate the formation of TPs in sewage reactors in the presence of biofilm mimicking conditions during in-sewer transport. Synthetic cathinones (methylenedioxypyrovalerone, methylone, mephedrone) and phenethylamines (4-methoxy-methamphetamine and 4-methoxyamphetamine) were incubated in individual reactors over a 24 h period. Analysis of parent species and TPs was carried out using liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-QToFMS). Identification of TPs was done using suspect and non-target workflows. In total, 18 TPs were detected and identified with reduction of β-keto group, demethylenation, demethylation, and hydroxylation reactions observed for the synthetic cathinones. For the phenethylamines, N- and O-demethylation reactions were identified. Overall, the experiments showed varying stability for the parent species in wastewater in the presence of biofilms. The newly identified isomeric forms of TPs particularly for methylone and mephedrone can be used as potential target biomarkers for WBE studies due to their specificity and detectability within a 24 h residence time.

AB - Recent studies have demonstrated the role of biofilms on the stability of drug residues in wastewater. These factors are pertinent in wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) when estimating community-level drug use. However, there is scarce information on the biotransformation of drug residues in the presence of biofilms and the potential use of transformation products (TPs) as biomarkers in WBE. The purpose of this work was to investigate the formation of TPs in sewage reactors in the presence of biofilm mimicking conditions during in-sewer transport. Synthetic cathinones (methylenedioxypyrovalerone, methylone, mephedrone) and phenethylamines (4-methoxy-methamphetamine and 4-methoxyamphetamine) were incubated in individual reactors over a 24 h period. Analysis of parent species and TPs was carried out using liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-QToFMS). Identification of TPs was done using suspect and non-target workflows. In total, 18 TPs were detected and identified with reduction of β-keto group, demethylenation, demethylation, and hydroxylation reactions observed for the synthetic cathinones. For the phenethylamines, N- and O-demethylation reactions were identified. Overall, the experiments showed varying stability for the parent species in wastewater in the presence of biofilms. The newly identified isomeric forms of TPs particularly for methylone and mephedrone can be used as potential target biomarkers for WBE studies due to their specificity and detectability within a 24 h residence time.

KW - Biofilm

KW - Biomarkers

KW - LC-QToFMS

KW - New psychoactive substances

KW - Stability

KW - Wastewater-based epidemiology

U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.03.253

DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.03.253

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 29627557

AN - SCOPUS:85044855741

VL - 634

SP - 331

EP - 340

JO - Science of the Total Environment

JF - Science of the Total Environment

SN - 0048-9697

ER -