J H P van Wel1, E Gracia-Lor2, A L N van Nuijs3, J Kinyua3, S Salvatore4, S Castiglioni2, J G Bramness4, A Covaci3, G Van Hal5. 1. Department of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium. Electronic address: janelle.vanwel@uantwerpen.be. 2. IRCCS-Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche "Mario Negri", Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Milan, Italy. 3. Toxicological Center, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium. 4. Norwegian Centre for Addiction Research (SERAF), University of Oslo, Norway. 5. Department of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Antwerp, Belgium.
Abstract
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Alcohol and nicotine are the two most used substances world-wide and associated with increased burden of disease. Since surveys on substance use may be difficult due to response biases, wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) was developed as a more objective measure of nicotine and alcohol use. This study compares estimates of nicotine and alcohol use from a wastewater sampling campaign in a medium-sized Belgian city with a concurrently executed population survey. METHODS: 29,083 letters about participation in an online survey study on weekly alcohol and tobacco use were sent to the inhabitants of Lier, Belgium. Wastewater samples were collected from the associated treatment plant in four bi-weekly periods. Samples were analyzed using liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Ethylsulfate was used as alcohol biomarker and cotinine and trans-3'-hydroxycotinine as nicotine biomarker. RESULTS: 263 (1%) surveys were filled out on average per week. According to survey data, alcohol and nicotine were used less than in the rest of Belgium and this was matched by the wastewater data. Nicotine use, but not alcohol use, showed a significant variation over the sampling periods. Both nicotine and alcohol showed increase use during the weekend while only alcohol showed a different use pattern throughout the week. CONCLUSION: No correlation between WBE and survey data could be demonstrated, possibly due to small sample sizes. However, this study shows that weekly trends in alcohol and nicotine use can be quickly detected from wastewater analysis and the occurrence of major events such as festivals can be identified.
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Alcohol and nicotine are the two most used substances world-wide and associated with increased burden of disease. Since surveys on substance use may be difficult due to response biases, wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) was developed as a more objective measure of nicotine and alcohol use. This study compares estimates of nicotine and alcohol use from a wastewater sampling campaign in a medium-sized Belgian city with a concurrently executed population survey. METHODS: 29,083 letters about participation in an online survey study on weekly alcohol and tobacco use were sent to the inhabitants of Lier, Belgium. Wastewater samples were collected from the associated treatment plant in four bi-weekly periods. Samples were analyzed using liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Ethylsulfate was used as alcohol biomarker and cotinine and trans-3'-hydroxycotinine as nicotine biomarker. RESULTS: 263 (1%) surveys were filled out on average per week. According to survey data, alcohol and nicotine were used less than in the rest of Belgium and this was matched by the wastewater data. Nicotine use, but not alcohol use, showed a significant variation over the sampling periods. Both nicotine and alcohol showed increase use during the weekend while only alcohol showed a different use pattern throughout the week. CONCLUSION: No correlation between WBE and survey data could be demonstrated, possibly due to small sample sizes. However, this study shows that weekly trends in alcohol and nicotine use can be quickly detected from wastewater analysis and the occurrence of major events such as festivals can be identified.
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
Authors: Andrea Estévez-Danta; Lubertus Bijlsma; Ricardo Capela; Rafael Cela; Alberto Celma; Félix Hernández; Unax Lertxundi; João Matias; Rosa Montes; Gorka Orive; Ailette Prieto; Miguel M Santos; Rosario Rodil; José Benito Quintana Journal: Sci Total Environ Date: 2022-05-04 Impact factor: 10.753
Authors: Foon Yin Lai; Katerina Lympousi; Frederic Been; Lisa Benaglia; Robin Udrisard; Olivier Delémont; Pierre Esseiva; Nikolaos S Thomaidis; Adrian Covaci; Alexander L N van Nuijs Journal: Sci Rep Date: 2018-09-05 Impact factor: 4.379