Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Complutense University of Madrid, Avenida Complutense s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
Laboratorio de Salud Pública de Madrid, Madrid Salud, Emigrantes 20, 28043 Madrid, Spain.
Sci Total Environ. 2024 Jul 20;935:173356. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173356. Epub 2024 May 19.
Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) can provide objective and real time information about the use of addictive substances. A national study was conducted by measuring the most consumed illicit drugs, other drugs whose consumption is not so widespread but has increased significantly in recent years, and benzodiazepines in untreated wastewater from seven wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in six Spanish cities. Raw composite wastewater samples were collected from December 2020 to December 2021, a period in which the Spanish and regional governments adopted different restriction measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Samples were analyzed using a validated analytical methodology for the simultaneous determination of 18 substances, based on solid-phase extraction and liquid-chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Except for heroin, fentanyl, 6-acetylmorphine and alprazolam, all the compounds were found in at least one city and 9 out of 18 compounds were found in all the samples. In general, the consumption of illicit drugs was particularly high in one of the cities monitored in December 2020, when the restrictions were more severe, especially for cannabis and cocaine with values up to 46 and 6.9 g/day/1000 inhabitants (g/day/1000 inh), respectively. The consumption of MDMA, methamphetamine and mephedrone was notably higher in June 2021, after the end of the state of alarm, in the biggest population investigated in this study. Regarding the use of benzodiazepines, the highest mass loads corresponded to lorazepam. This study demonstrates that WBE is suitable for complementing epidemiological studies about the prevalence of illicit drugs and benzodiazepines during the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
基于污水的流行病学（WBE）可以提供关于成瘾物质使用的客观和实时信息。本研究通过测量在西班牙六个城市的七个污水处理厂（WWTP）未经处理的污水中最常消费的非法药物、近年来消费显著增加但尚未广泛流行的其他药物以及苯二氮䓬类药物，对全国范围内的情况进行了研究。2020 年 12 月至 2021 年 12 月期间，采集了原始综合污水样本，在此期间，西班牙和地区政府采取了不同的限制措施来遏制 COVID-19 大流行的传播。使用经过验证的分析方法，基于固相萃取和液相色谱串联质谱法，对样本进行了分析，该方法可同时测定 18 种物质。除海洛因、芬太尼、6-乙酰吗啡和阿普唑仑外，所有化合物均在至少一个城市中检出，而 18 种化合物中有 9 种在所有样本中均有检出。总的来说，在 2020 年 12 月限制措施更为严格的一个监测城市中，非法药物的消费特别高，尤其是大麻和可卡因，其值分别高达 46 和 6.9 g/天/1000 名居民（g/天/1000 名居民）。在本研究中调查的最大人群中，2021 年 6 月解除警报后，MDMA、甲基苯丙胺和甲卡西酮的消费明显更高。关于苯二氮䓬类药物的使用，洛拉西泮的质量负荷最高。本研究表明，WBE 适合补充 COVID-19 疫情限制期间关于非法药物和苯二氮䓬类药物流行率的流行病学研究。
