Partitioning of phytocannabinoids between faeces and water - Implications for wastewater-based epidemiology.
Evaluating consumption estimates for lipophilic drugs in wastewater has proven to be a challenge. A common feature for these compounds is that they are excreted in faeces and in conjugated form in urine. Limited research with no obvious experimental evidence has been conducted to investigate the degree to which faecal-bound chemical markers contribute towards mass loads in wastewater. Cannabis chemical markers, known as phytocannabinoids, have been suggested in literature to fall into this category. In this study, cannabis users (n 9) and non-cannabis users (n 5) were recruited and provided faecal and urine samples after using the substance. The common chemical markers of cannabis consumption, 11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ