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Application of wastewater-based epidemiology to investigate stimulant drug, alcohol and tobacco use in Lithuanian communities.

Authors :
Boogaerts T
Jurgelaitiene L
Dumitrascu C
Kasprzyk-Hordern B
Kannan A
Been F
Emke E
de Voogt P
Covaci A
van Nuijs ALN
Source :
The Science of the total environment [Sci Total Environ] 2021 Jul 10; Vol. 777, pp. 145914. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Feb 19.
Publication Year :
2021

Abstract

WBE was applied to evaluate illicit drug (i.e. amphetamine, cocaine, MDMA and methamphetamine), alcohol and tobacco use in three Lithuanian cities in 2018 and 2019. Considerable concentrations of methamphetamine and MDMA were found in the three locations, suggesting a specific Lithuanian consumption pattern. Yet, unexpected high concentrations of amphetamine (>4 μg/L) were detected in two samples of Kaunas in 2018. Through the use of chiral analysis and non-target and suspect drug precursor compound screening, these extreme values were confirmed to be the result of direct disposal of amphetamine in the sewers. Furthermore, substantial alcohol use was measured in the three investigated catchment populations of Lithuania with almost 4 standard drinks/day/inhabitant aged 15+ on average in 2019. For tobacco, an average of 5.6 cigarettes/day/inhabitant aged 15+ in 2019 was reported with large discrepancies between WBE figures and sales data, potentially highlighting illegal trade of tobacco products.<br />Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.<br /> (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1879-1026
Volume :
777
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
The Science of the total environment
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
33677284
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145914