Analysis of new classes of recreational drugs in sewage: Synthetic cannabinoids and amphetamine‐like substances

Abstract

The analysis of sewage for the residues of commonly used illicit drugs has successfully been applied as a suitable approach for estimating community illicit drug use. The drug market is increasingly dynamic with new substances continually being marketed for recreational purposes. In this study, ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) was used to simultaneously and quantitatively detect the exogenous biomarkers of new classes of recreational drugs in sewage collected from three different Norwegian cities (Oslo, Bergen, Hamar). The samples were screened for the presence of khat (d-norpseudoephedrine and cathinone), mephedrone, pseudoephedrine, 7-aminoflunitrazepam, para-methoxyamphetamine (PMA), para-methoxy-N-methylamphetamine (PMMA) and a selection of urinary metabolites of synthetic cannabinoids collectively termed ´Spice´ (5-3-1-naphthoyl-1H-indol-1-yl-pentanoic acid (JWH 018 N-pentanoic acid), 1-5-hydroxypentyl-1H-indol-3-ylnaphthalen-1-yl-methanone (JWH 018 N-5-hydroxypentyl), 4-3-1-naphthoyl-1H-indol-1-yl-butanoic acid (JWH 073 N-butanoic acid), 1-4-hydroxybutyl-1H-indol-3-ylnaphthalen-1-yl-methanone (JWH 073 N-4-hydroxybutyl), 1-5-hydroxypentyl-1H-indol-3-yl4-methylnaphthalen-1-yl-methanone (JWH 122 N-5-hydroxypentyl), 1-5-fluoro-4-hydroxypentyl-1H-indol-3-ylnaphthalen-1-ylmethanone (AM2201 N-4-hydroxypentyl), and 1-5-hydroxypentyl-1H-indol-3-yl4-methoxyphenyl-methanone (RCS-4 N-5-hydroxypentyl)). Limits of detection were 1 ng/L for amphetamine like compounds and 5 ng/L for the metabolites of synthetic cannabinoids while the limits of quantification were 3 and 15 ng/L, respectively. Three of the fourteen selected biomarkers (cathine, pseudoephedrine and the synthetic cannabinoid metabolite JWH-018 N-5-hydroxypentyl) were detected in sewage, alongside the illicit drugs (and/or metabolites) typically found in sewage (cocaine, benzoylecognine, methamphetamine, MDMA, and THC-COOH). The khat biomarker d-norpseudoephedrine was detected in Oslo sewage at a mean concentration of 93 ng/L that represents a daily load of 54 mg/day/1000 inhabitants. Pseudoephedrine was present at mean concentrations of between 27 and 67 ng/L representing normalized daily loads of between 10 (Hamar) and 24 mg/day/1000 inhabitants (Bergen). The daily normalized loads of JWH-018 N-5-hydroxypentyl were between 49 (Oslo) and 62 mg/day/1000 inhabitants (Hamar). This study demonstrates for the first time that sewage biomarker analysis can be applied to evaluate not only the use the traditional illicit drugs (cocaine, cannabis and amphetamines), but also the use of certain new synthetic drugs.

Multi-residue determination of 10 selected new psychoactive substances in wastewater samples by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

“…It is worth mentioning that BZP was also detected in river water with a mean concentration of 26.0 ng/L [19]. A LC-MS/MS based method for simultaneous determination in wastewater of 14 biomarkers specific to synthetic cannabinoids and amphetamine-like substances was developed by Reid et al [5]. Three of the 14 analytes were detected in sewage from Norwegian cities, being the metabolite of JWH-018, JWH-018N-5-hydroxypentyl, the most ubiquitous, ranging from 63 to 160 ng/L.…”

“…The purpose of these substances is mainly to simulate the effects of common drugs of abuse, sometimes by simply adding or changing a functional group in the original drug molecule [3,4]. Consequently, they have similar pharmacological properties to the popular stimulants cocaine, amphetamines, 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine (MDMA) or tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) [5][6][7][8][9]. Important toxicity effects have also been associated with the recreational use of these drugs [10][11][12][13][14].…”

Wastewater-Based Epidemiology of Cocaine in the Brazilian Federal District: Spatial Distribution, Weekly Variation and Sample Preservation Strategies

“…Also for this reason, analytical data concerning benzoylecgonine in wastewater samples has been used as a near real-time tool to estimate cocaine consumption for a given population. 8,9 Several works have explored different aspects of the WBE approach including other cocaine metabolites, 10 estimation of other consumed drugs, [10][11][12] influence of recreational events, [13][14][15][16] consumption dynamics in restricted facilities, [17][18][19] temporal and spatial variability, [20][21][22] stability of target chemicals, 23,24 refinement on estimates calculation, [25][26][27] innovations in sample preparation and analysis, [28][29][30] among others. In Brazil, the first work to put the WBE approach into practice was designed to assess cocaine consumption on regions served by six wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) installed in the Brazilian Federal District (FD).…”

A data-independent acquisition workflow for qualitative screening of new psychoactive substances in biological samples

“…In such cases, and considering that not much experimental data exist on the biotransformation of NPS, this workflow would be useful since it includes screening for not only the parent compounds but also potential biomarkers like predicted metabolites. Furthermore, other fields might benefit from having biomarker information-such as sewage-based epidemiology [41][42][43][44].…”