Illicit drugs and their metabolites in urban wastewater Analysis, occurrence and consumption in Xinjiang, China.
The use of illicit drugs has increased considerably across the world. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) of illicit drugs might help determine the types and quantity of illicit drugs consumed in a region. In this study, WBE was applied to analyze illicit drugs in five representative urban wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Xinjiang, China. The collected samples were pretreated under optimized solid-phase extraction conditions and then analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MSMS). The results revealed the presence of 9 of the 11 evaluated drugs among them, the concentrations of these substances ranged as follows METH (2.60-10.02 ngL), MDMA (0.49-6.87 ngL), MOR (4.53-44.75 ngL), COD (2.24-8.30 ngL), MTD (1.36-3.75 ngL), COC (0.48 ngL), THC (5.98-18.89 ngL), BE (1.12-2.45 ngL) and KET (1.50 ngL). And an estimate of the per capita consumption revealed morphine (10.2 mgd1000inhabitants), cannabis (3.9 mgd1000inhabitants), 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (3.9 mgd1000 inhabitants), and methamphetamine (2.2 mgd1000 inhabitants) as the main substances of abuse in Xinjiang, China. The results of this study might be taken as a reference for future studies on the continuous monitoring of such drugs.