Richard Bade: University of Queensland (Brisbane, Australia)
The monitoring and surveillance of new psychoactive substances (NPS) are complex international challenges. NPS mimic the effects of illicit (e.g. cannabis, amphetamine and MDMA/ecstasy) and licit (e.g. ketamine, fentanyl and benzodiazepines) drugs. Due to limited information regarding (safe) dose sizes and effects, their consumption and use has become of public health concern. More than 1100 NPS have been identified across all continents and there are more emerging every year. Current means for monitoring NPS use include self-reporting survey data, pill testing, forensic toxicology data and drug seizure data, while wastewater analysis is regarded as a complementary tool to these traditional sources.
Wastewater analysis for NPS involves the analysis of markers of use (generally the parent compound or a metabolite) in wastewater as an indicator of consumption. With the variety of classes of NPS (e.g. synthetic cathinones, synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists, opioids, benzodiazepines and phenethylamines) and their associated physicochemical properties, it is difficult to have a single analytical method for all. This presentation will discuss the difficulties associated with the analysis of these compounds in wastewater and describe the current methods that have been developed for their identification in wastewater as well as some results from surveillance campaigns in Australia and internationally.