posted on 2021-12-08, 13:04authored byRichard Bade, Jason M. White, Maulik Ghetia, Santosh Adiraju, Sangeet Adhikari, Lubertus Bijlsma, Tim Boogaerts, Daniel A. Burgard, Sara Castiglioni, Alberto Celma, Andrew Chappell, Adrian Covaci, Erin M. Driver, Rolf U. Halden, Felix Hernandez, Heon-Jun Lee, Alexander L. N. van Nuijs, Jeong-Eun Oh, Marco A. Pineda Castro, Noelia Salgueiro-Gonzalez, Bikram Subedi, Xue-Ting Shao, Viviane Yargeau, Ettore Zuccato, Cobus Gerber
New
psychoactive substances (NPS) are compounds designed to mimic
both licit and illicit drugs, and these substances are being discovered
each year through forensic toxicology, drug enforcement agencies,
and health authorities. However, there is limited information surrounding
their international popularity. In this work, influent wastewater
samples (n = 144) were collected from 25 sites in
10 countries: Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Fiji, Italy, New
Zealand, Republic of Korea, Spain, and the United States over the
2020–2021 New Year period. All samples were extracted in the
country of origin then shipped and analyzed centrally at the University
of South Australia using validated liquid chromatography–mass
spectrometry methods. This study focused on 28 NPS stimulants, with
11 detected. The emerging substances eutylone and 3-methylmethcathinone
(3-MMC) were detected most frequently and with the highest mass loads,
indicating international popularity. Interestingly, the “older”
generation stimulants, para-methoxyamphetamine (PMA),
methylone, and mephedrone, were also detected. From the sites monitored
in this work, areas in New Zealand had the highest loads of NPS stimulant
consumption. Results here show that wastewater analysis can elucidate
the dynamic nature of the NPS market, providing near real-time information
on changing consumption patterns whose information can be used to
minimize public risk.