KWR Water Research Institute, Nieuwegein, the Netherlands.
KWR Water Research Institute, Nieuwegein, the Netherlands.
Sci Total Environ. 2022 Nov 15;847:157222. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157222. Epub 2022 Jul 25.
Already in early 2000s, concerns have been growing in the EU about increasing use of cocaine and it is estimated that below 1 % of the population administer the drug by smoking crack cocaine. New available data suggests an increase in the use of crack cocaine and an increase in the number of crack cocaine users entering treatment has been reported in several European countries. Robust estimations of crack cocaine use are however not available yet. The use of crack cocaine has long been associated with severe adverse socio-economic conditions as well as mental health problems, such as suicide ideation and depression. The aim of this study was to assess spatial trends in population-normalized mass loads of crack cocaine biomarkers (i.e., anhydroecgonine and anhydroecgonine methyl ester) in 13 European cities in six countries (the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy). Furthermore, temporal trends over a five-year period were evaluated through the analysis of historic samples collected in the Netherlands. Finally, the stability of the crack cocaine biomarkers in wastewater was investigated through batch experiments. The samples were analyzed with a new developed and validated hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry method. Targeted crack cocaine biomarkers were found in all cities. Also, crack cocaine biomarker was detected in wastewater from 2017 to 2021 in the Netherlands, but no significance between the years were found. With respect to biomarker in-sample stability, AEME was found to be stable in wastewater. This study assessed crack cocaine use for the first time on a broad scale, both temporal and in cities across Europe, with wastewater-based epidemiology and it shows the importance of wastewater analysis to monitor community loads of crack cocaine use.
早在 21 世纪初，欧盟就对可卡因使用的增加表示担忧，据估计，只有不到 1%的人口通过吸食 crack cocaine 来使用这种药物。新的可用数据表明，crack cocaine 的使用有所增加，并且一些欧洲国家报告称，进入治疗的 crack cocaine 用户数量有所增加。然而，目前还没有关于 crack cocaine 使用的可靠估计。长期以来，crack cocaine 的使用一直与严重的社会经济条件以及心理健康问题相关，如自杀意念和抑郁。本研究的目的是评估 6 个国家（荷兰、比利时、爱尔兰、葡萄牙、西班牙和意大利）的 13 个欧洲城市中，人口归一化 crack cocaine 生物标志物（即脱水 ecgonine 和脱水 ecgonine 甲酯）质量负荷的空间趋势。此外，通过对荷兰收集的历史样本进行分析，评估了五年期间的时间趋势。最后，通过批实验研究了废水中 crack cocaine 生物标志物的稳定性。采用新开发和验证的亲水相互作用液相色谱-质谱法对样品进行分析。在所有城市都发现了目标 crack cocaine 生物标志物。此外，在荷兰的废水样本中，从 2017 年到 2021 年都检测到 crack cocaine 生物标志物，但未发现年份之间存在显著差异。就生物标志物的样本内稳定性而言，AEME 被发现稳定存在于废水中。本研究首次在欧洲范围内，通过基于废水的流行病学，从时间和城市两个方面评估了 crack cocaine 的使用情况，这表明了废水分析在监测社区 crack cocaine 使用负荷方面的重要性。
