Determination of illicit drugs in the water cycle by LC-Orbitrap MS

The societal interest in the use and abuse of illicit drugs has spurred researchers to monitor their discharges from households and municipal wastewater treatment plants and to investigate their occurrence in surface waters. A method employing high resolution Orbitrap mass spectrometry coupled to liquid chromatography was used to monitor simultaneously the presence of 32 illicit drugs and their degradation products in samples of wastewater, surface waters and drinking water. Specific aspects of the methodology related to instrument optimization and sample matrix-related aspects of the instrument performance are discussed. The method was used for monitoring campaigns in The Netherlands in the years 2006-2009. The most abundant drugs of abuse encountered in wastewater and surface waters included several diazepines, codeine, methadone, benzylecgonine (a transformation product of cocaine, and MDMA. In Dutch drinking water samples collected in the period 2006-2008, no drugs were found to be present.