title: Dominant psychoactive drugs in the Central European region: A wastewater study.
abstract: The aim of this study was to analyze 26 various illicit drugs, psychopharmaceuticals and metabolites thereof in sewer from 17 selected wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in the Slovak and Czech Republics. Urinary bio-markers used were analyzed using liquid chromatography coupled with the tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). We then compared our results with data obtained in other parts of Europe and the world. The present study shows that the Slovak and Czech Republics have one of the highest methamphetamine consumption rates in Europe. Within Slovakia, the highest level of methamphetamine consumption was found in Dunajská Streda with the mean specific load of the drug in sewage being up to 479mg/day/1000 inhabitants; the next highest load was detected in Trnava (354mg/day/1000 inhabitants). The methamphetamine, ecstasy and cannabis consumptions in our study were comparable to those found in other European cities, whereas cocaine consumption was lower. Among all of the studied psychopharmaceuticals, tramadol and venlafaxine were represented in the highest concentrations. The highest mean specific load of tramadol was detected in the spa town of Piešťany (371mg/day/1000 inhabitants) and Košice (372mg/day/1000 inhabitants), while the highest mean loads of venlafaxine were recorded for the towns of Trenčín (230mg/day/1000 inhabitants) and Piešťany (108mg/day/1000 inhabitants).
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology, Radlinského 9, 812 37 Bratislava, Slovakia. Electronic address: tomas.mackulak@stuba.sk.
authors.forename: Tomáš
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mackuľak
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology, Radlinského 9, 812 37 Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bodík
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Commerce, Department of Business Information Technology, University of Economics in Bratislava, Dolnozemská cesta 1, 85235 Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Jamal
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hasan
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice, Zatisi 728/II, 389 01 Vodnany, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Roman
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Grabic
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice, Zatisi 728/II, 389 01 Vodnany, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Oksana
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Golovko
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Mlynská dolina - Ilkovičova 6, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vojs-Staňová
authors.affiliation: Department of Inorganic Technology, Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology, Radlinského 9, 812 37 Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Miroslav
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gál
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chemistry, University in Bialystok, K. Ciolkowskiego 1K, 15-245 Białystok, Poland.
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Naumowicz
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology, Radlinského 9, 812 37 Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Jozef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tichý
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology, Radlinského 9, 812 37 Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Brandeburová
authors.affiliation: Department of Inorganic Technology, Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology, Radlinského 9, 812 37 Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Ján
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Híveš
mesh_terms: D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D013759:Dronabinol / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000032:analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs / Q000032:analysis*; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000032:analysis*; D018154:Slovakia; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000379:methods*; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D013759:Dronabinol; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs; D062065:Wastewater; C016780:11-nor-delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid
keywords: Drug monitoring; LC–MS/MS; Methamphetamine; Sewage biomarker analysis; Wastewater analysis