Publication
Title
Drugs of abuse and alcohol consumption among different groups of population on the Greek Island of Lesvos through sewage-based epidemiology
Author
Abstract
The occurrence of 22 drugs of abuse, their metabolites, and the alcohol metabolite ethyl sulphate was investigated in raw sewage samples collected during the non-touristic season from three sewage treatment plants (STPs), which serve different sizes and types of population in the Greek island of Lesvos. Using the sewage-based epidemiology approach, the consumption of these substances was estimated. Five target analytes, cocaine (COC), benzoylecgonine (BE), 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), 11-nor-9-carboxy-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC-COOH) and ethyl sulphate (EtS) were detected at concentrations above their limit of quantification, whereas the rest eighteen target compounds were not detected. THC-COOH was detected in most of the samples with concentrations ranging between <20 and 90 ng L-1, followed by EtS (range <1700-12,243 ng L-1). COC, BE, and MDMA were present only in the STP that serves Mytilene (the main city of the island), at mean concentrations of 3.9 ng L-1 for COC (95% CI: 1.7-6.1), 9.4 ng L-1 for BE (95% CI: - 1.6-23) and 3.2 ng L-1 for MDMA (95% CI: 1.2-5.1). Back-calculations to an amount of used substance indicated more intense use of drugs among city population than rural and University population with average values of 9.5 and 1.2 mg day(-1) per 1000 inhabitants for COC (95% CI: - 1.43-20.4) and MDMA (95% CI: 0.52-1.85), respectively, and 2.8 g day(-1) per 1000 inhabitants for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) (95% CI: 2.4-3.1), the active ingredient of cannabis. Alcohol consumption was observed to be higher in the city population (5.4 mL pure alcohol per day per inhabitant) than in the rural population (3.4 mL pure alcohol per day per inhabitant), but the difference was not statistically significant. Consumption of THC differed significantly among the three STPs. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Language
English
Source (journal)
The science of the total environment. - Amsterdam, 1972, currens
Publication
Amsterdam : 2016
ISSN
0048-9697 [print]
1879-1026 [online]
DOI
10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2016.04.130
Volume/pages
563 (2016) , p. 633-640
ISI
000377792800066
Pubmed ID
27236142
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
A new paradigm in drug use and human health risk assessment: sewage profiling at the community level (SEWPROF).
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 29.07.2016
Last edited 09.10.2023
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