title: Detection of cocaine in the airborne particles of the Italian cities Rome and Taranto.
abstract: Cocaine was first detected in the air of two Italian cities, Rome and Taranto, where it reached concentrations sometimes exceeding 100 pg/m(3), by HRGC-MS analysis of carbonaceous aerosol samples. By contrast, the drug was virtually absent in Algiers (Algeria). In Italy, atmospheric concentrations of cocaine were, on average, similar to those of other toxic pollutants like polychlorobiphenyls or nitrated polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, and higher than those of polychlorodibenzo-p-dioxins/polychlorodibenzofurans. The cocaine concentrations seemed to correlate with regional consumption of the drug in Rome and Taranto. By contrast, it correlated neither with nicotine or caffeine, nor with benzo[a]pyrene, the sole organic compound associated with aerosols that is quoted according to Italian legislation.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Inquinamento Atmosferico CNR, Monterotondo Scalo, Via Salaria km. 29.3, I-00016 Monterotondo Scalo, RM, Italy. cecinato@iia.cnr.it
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cecinato
authors.forename: Catia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Balducci
mesh_terms: D000336:Aerosols; D000388:Air; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D002110:Caffeine / Q000032:analysis; D002947:Cities; D003042:Cocaine / Q000032:analysis*; D004391:Dust; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D007558:Italy; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D009538:Nicotine / Q000032:analysis; D010316:Particle Size; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis*; D012384:Rome
chemical_list: D000336:Aerosols; D000393:Air Pollutants; D004391:Dust; D002110:Caffeine; D009538:Nicotine; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls; D003042:Cocaine