title: Enantiomer profiling of high loads of amphetamine and MDMA in communal sewage: a Dutch perspective.
abstract: Analysis of wastewater with an aim of community-wide estimation of drug use is a new and very promising approach. Until now it was very difficult to determine if mass loads of studied drugs were actually originating from consumption, or disposal of unused drugs or production waste. This uncertainty in the estimation of community wide drugs use should not be underestimated. This paper aims to apply for the first time enantiomeric profiling in verifying sources of the presence of MDMA and amphetamine in wastewater based on a case study in two Dutch cities: Utrecht and Eindhoven. The results showed that MDMA is usually present in wastewater due to its consumption (MDMA enriched with R(-)-enantiomer). Excessively high mass loads of MDMA during a sampling campaign in Utrecht in 2011 proved to be racemic indicating direct disposal of unused MDMA possibly as a result of a police raid at a nearby illegal production facility. Enantiomeric profiling was also undertaken in order to verify the origin of unexpectedly high mass loads of amphetamine in the city of Eindhoven in 2011. Unfortunately, a distinction between consumption and direct disposal of unused amphetamine in Dutch wastewater could not be achieved. Further work will have to be undertaken to fully understand sources of amphetamine in Dutch wastewaters.
authors.affiliation: KWR Watercycle Research Institute, Chemical Water Quality and Health, P.O. Box 1072, 3430 BB Nieuwegein, The Netherlands. Electronic address: Erik.Emke@kwrwater.nl.
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Emke
authors.affiliation: University of Bath, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Bath BA2 7AY, UK.
authors.forename: Sian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.affiliation: University of Bath, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Bath BA2 7AY, UK.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kasprzyk-Hordern
authors.affiliation: KWR Watercycle Research Institute, Chemical Water Quality and Health, P.O. Box 1072, 3430 BB Nieuwegein, The Netherlands; Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, P.O. Box 94248, 1090 GE Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Pim
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: de Voogt
mesh_terms: D000662:Amphetamines / Q000032:analysis*; D002947:Cities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D013287:Illicit Drugs / Q000032:analysis*; D018817:N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine / Q000032:analysis*; D012722:Sewage / Q000737:chemistry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000379:methods*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000662:Amphetamines; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D018817:N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine; D012722:Sewage; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Amphetamine; Dumping; Enantiomer profiling; MDMA; Police raid