title: Monitoring temporal changes in use of two cathinones in a large urban catchment in Queensland, Australia.
abstract: Wastewater analysis was used to examine prevalence and temporal trends in the use of two cathinones, methylone and mephedrone, in an urban population (>200,000 people) in South East Queensland, Australia. Wastewater samples were collected from the inlet of the sewage treatment plant that serviced the catchment from 2011 to 2013. Liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry was used to measure mephedrone and methylone in wastewater sample using direct injection mode. Mephedrone was not detected in any samples while methylone was detected in 45% of the samples. Daily mass loads of methylone were normalized to the population and used to evaluate methylone use in the catchment. Methylone mass loads peaked in 2012 but there was no clear temporal trend over the monitoring period. The prevalence of methylone use in the catchment was associated with the use of MDMA, the more popular analogue of methylone, as indicated by other complementary sources. Methylone use was stable in the study catchment during the monitoring period whereas mephedrone use has been declining after its peak in 2010. More research is needed on the pharmacokinetics of emerging illicit drugs to improve the applicability of wastewater analysis in monitoring their use in the population.
authors.affiliation: Queensland University of Technology, Garden Point, Brisbane, QLD 4001, Australia; The University of Queensland, The National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology, 39 Kessels Road, Coopers Plains, QLD 4108, Australia. Electronic address: phong.thai@qut.edu.au.
authors.forename: Phong K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Thai
authors.affiliation: The University of Queensland, The National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology, 39 Kessels Road, Coopers Plains, QLD 4108, Australia.
authors.forename: Foon Yin
authors.initials: FY
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.affiliation: Queensland Health Forensic Scientific Services, Queensland Government, 39 Kessels Road, Coopers Plains, QLD 4108, Australia.
authors.forename: Methsiri
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Edirisinghe
authors.affiliation: The University of Queensland, Centre for Youth Substance Abuse Research, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Herston, QLD 4029, Australia.
authors.forename: Wayne
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 30, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia.
authors.forename: Raimondo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bruno
authors.affiliation: The University of Queensland, The National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology, 39 Kessels Road, Coopers Plains, QLD 4108, Australia.
authors.forename: Jake W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Law, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 89, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia.
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Prichard
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical and Physical Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia.
authors.forename: K Paul
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Kirkbride
authors.affiliation: The University of Queensland, The National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology, 39 Kessels Road, Coopers Plains, QLD 4108, Australia.
authors.forename: Jochen F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Mueller
mesh_terms: D000470:Alkaloids / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D013287:Illicit Drugs / Q000032:analysis; D011793:Queensland / Q000453:epidemiology; D062211:Spatio-Temporal Analysis; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D000470:Alkaloids; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C023665:cathinone
keywords: Australia; Cathinone; Drugs of abuse; LC-MS/MS; Sewage epidemiology