title: Mass spectrometric strategies for the investigation of biomarkers of illicit drug use in wastewater.
abstract: The analysis of illicit drugs in urban wastewater is the basis of wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE), and has received much scientific attention because the concentrations measured can be used as a new non-intrusive tool to provide evidence-based and real-time estimates of community-wide drug consumption. Moreover, WBE allows monitoring patterns and spatial and temporal trends of drug use. Although information and expertise from other disciplines is required to refine and effectively apply WBE, analytical chemistry is the fundamental driver in this field. The use of advanced analytical techniques, commonly based on combined chromatography-mass spectrometry, is mandatory because the very low analyte concentration and the complexity of samples (raw wastewater) make quantification and identification/confirmation of illicit drug biomarkers (IDBs) troublesome. We review the most-recent literature available (mostly from the last 5 years) on the determination of IDBs in wastewater with particular emphasis on the different analytical strategies applied. The predominance of liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry to quantify target IDBs and the essence to produce reliable and comparable results is illustrated. Accordingly, the importance to perform inter-laboratory exercises and the need to analyze appropriate quality controls in each sample sequence is highlighted. Other crucial steps in WBE, such as sample collection and sample pre-treatment, are briefly and carefully discussed. The article further focuses on the potential of high-resolution mass spectrometry. Different approaches for target and non-target analysis are discussed, and the interest to perform experiments under laboratory-controlled conditions, as a complementary tool to investigate related compounds (e.g., minor metabolites and/or transformation products in wastewater) is treated. The article ends up with the trends and future perspectives in this field from the authors' point of view. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Mass Spec Rev 37:258-280, 2018.
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for Pesticides and Water, University Jaume I, Castellón, Spain.
authors.forename: Félix
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hernández
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, IRCCS-Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Castiglioni
authors.affiliation: Toxicological Center, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Covaci
authors.affiliation: KWR Watercycle Research Institute, Nieuwegein, the Netherlands.|IBED-University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Pim
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: de Voogt
authors.affiliation: KWR Watercycle Research Institute, Nieuwegein, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Emke
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kasprzyk-Hordern
authors.affiliation: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), Dübendorf, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ort
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA), Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Malcolm
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Reid
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for Pesticides and Water, University Jaume I, Castellón, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Sancho
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA), Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Kevin V
authors.initials: KV
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: Toxicological Center, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: Alexander L N
authors.initials: ALN
authors.lastname: van Nuijs
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, IRCCS-Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Ettore
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zuccato
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for Pesticides and Water, University Jaume I, Castellón, Spain.
authors.forename: Lubertus
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bijlsma
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis*; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D057230:Limit of Detection; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D011786:Quality Control; D013048:Specimen Handling; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid; D062065:Wastewater / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D062065:Wastewater
keywords: drugs of abuse; mass spectrometry; urinary metabolites; wastewater-based epidemiology