BACKGROUND: Accurate and timely information on the scale and dynamics of drug consumption is important for assessing the needs of law enforcement and public health services in a community. AIMS: This paper presents a detailed examination of a comprehensive sewage-sampling campaign for the purposes of increasing an understanding of the dynamics of drug-flows in sewage streams, and developing new methodology by which this technique can support traditional drug-use surveys. METHODS: A total of 104 sewage samples were collected from a treatment plant servicing approximately 500000 people and analysed for levels of methamphetamine, cocaine and cocaine metabolites. Careful examination of the kinetics of drug-flow profiles was then performed in order to identify trends or patterns of use within the community. RESULTS: Results were validated against identical measurements of pharmaceutical reference compounds. Consumption profiles for cocaine and methamphetamine were found to differ in terms of frequency and timing of use. The majority of cocaine consumption occurs during the evening hours and 45% of consumption of this drug occurs in weekend periods. The flow of methamphetamine in the sewage system appears more evenly spread throughout the week. CONCLUSIONS: This result is consistent with both an extended excretion half-life and a pattern of use that is more evenly balanced across all days of the week. Comprehensive investigation in to the scale and kinetics of drug flow in a sewage stream can therefore provide valuable information, not only in terms of the volume of drug consumed, but also in terms of identifying differing usage-patterns over daily and weekly time-scales.
BACKGROUND: Accurate and timely information on the scale and dynamics of drug consumption is important for assessing the needs of law enforcement and public health services in a community. AIMS: This paper presents a detailed examination of a comprehensive sewage-sampling campaign for the purposes of increasing an understanding of the dynamics of drug-flows in sewage streams, and developing new methodology by which this technique can support traditional drug-use surveys. METHODS: A total of 104 sewage samples were collected from a treatment plant servicing approximately 500000 people and analysed for levels of methamphetamine, cocaine and cocaine metabolites. Careful examination of the kinetics of drug-flow profiles was then performed in order to identify trends or patterns of use within the community. RESULTS: Results were validated against identical measurements of pharmaceutical reference compounds. Consumption profiles for cocaine and methamphetamine were found to differ in terms of frequency and timing of use. The majority of cocaine consumption occurs during the evening hours and 45% of consumption of this drug occurs in weekend periods. The flow of methamphetamine in the sewage system appears more evenly spread throughout the week. CONCLUSIONS: This result is consistent with both an extended excretion half-life and a pattern of use that is more evenly balanced across all days of the week. Comprehensive investigation in to the scale and kinetics of drug flow in a sewage stream can therefore provide valuable information, not only in terms of the volume of drug consumed, but also in terms of identifying differing usage-patterns over daily and weekly time-scales.
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Authors: Stefania Salvatore; Jørgen Gustav Bramness; Malcolm J Reid; Kevin Victor Thomas; Christopher Harman; Jo Røislien Journal: PLoS One Date: 2015-09-22 Impact factor: 3.240
Authors: Christoph Ort; Alexander L N van Nuijs; Jean-Daniel Berset; Lubertus Bijlsma; Sara Castiglioni; Adrian Covaci; Pim de Voogt; Erik Emke; Despo Fatta-Kassinos; Paul Griffiths; Félix Hernández; Iria González-Mariño; Roman Grabic; Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern; Nicola Mastroianni; Axel Meierjohann; Thomas Nefau; Marcus Ostman; Yolanda Pico; Ines Racamonde; Malcolm Reid; Jaroslav Slobodnik; Senka Terzic; Nikolaos Thomaidis; Kevin V Thomas Journal: Addiction Date: 2014-05-27 Impact factor: 6.526
Authors: Jose Antonio Baz-Lomba; Stefania Salvatore; Emma Gracia-Lor; Richard Bade; Sara Castiglioni; Erika Castrignanò; Ana Causanilles; Felix Hernandez; Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern; Juliet Kinyua; Ann-Kathrin McCall; Alexander van Nuijs; Christoph Ort; Benedek G Plósz; Pedram Ramin; Malcolm Reid; Nikolaos I Rousis; Yeonsuk Ryu; Pim de Voogt; Jorgen Bramness; Kevin Thomas Journal: BMC Public Health Date: 2016-10-01 Impact factor: 3.295