Largest multi-city study on drug wastewater analysis released
28 May 2014 04:23 PM
The findings of the largest
European project to date in the emerging science of wastewater analysis (WWA)
have been released. The project in
question — steered by the Europe-wide SCORE network (2) — analysed wastewater in over 40
European cities to explore the drug-taking habits of those who live in them.
Its conclusions are taken up in the European Drug Report 2014, launched by the EU drugs agency
(EMCDDA), as well as in an online
interactive analysis by the agency dedicated to the issue (Perspectives on drugs) (3).
The purpose of the SCORE study
was to assess geographical differences and temporal changes in illicit drug use
in metropolitan settings across the region. It is the first, and most
extensive, WWA application to date, covering multiple countries, over
consecutive years (2011–13) and according to a fixed
protocol.
Wastewater analysis is a rapidly
developing and novel scientific discipline with the potential for monitoring
near-real-time, population-level trends in illicit drug use. By sampling a
known source of wastewater, such as a sewage influent to a wastewater treatment
plant (WWTP), scientists can now estimate the quantity of drugs used in a
community by measuring the levels of illicit drugs and their metabolites
excreted in urine.
From London to Nicosia and
Stockholm to Lisbon, the study analysed daily wastewater samples in the
catchment areas of WWTPs over a one-week period in April 2012 and in March
2013. In 2012, the study involved 23 cities in 11 countries, while in 2013 it
was broadened to 42 cities in 21 countries. Data from a 2011 study (19 cities,
11 countries) were used for comparison. Wastewater from approximately 8 million
people was analysed for traces of five illicit drugs: amphetamine, cannabis,
cocaine, ecstasy and methamphetamine.
The WWA results provide a
valuable snapshot of the drug flow through the cities involved, revealing
marked regional variations in drug use patterns. Traces of cocaine, for
example, were higher in western and some southern cities but lower in northern
and eastern cities. Use of amphetamine, while relatively evenly distributed,
showed the highest levels in the north and northwest of Europe. Methamphetamine
use, generally low and traditionally concentrated in the Czech Republic and
Slovakia, now appears to be present in the east of Germany and northern Europe.
And when weekly patterns of drug use were examined, cocaine and ecstasy levels
rose sharply at weekends in most cities, while methamphetamine and cannabis use
appeared to be more evenly distributed throughout the week.
‘Wastewater analysis
provides the possibility to collect and report measurements more quickly and
regularly than is the current norm for national surveys’, concludes the
report. If used more routinely as a complement to other European drug
surveillance methods, it has the clear potential to shed extra light on drug
use trends in Europe, including the use of new psychoactive
substances.
Notes
(1) Ort C, van Nuijs ALN, Berset
J-D, et al. ‘Spatial differences and temporal changes in illicit drug use in Europe
quantified by wastewater analysis’, Addiction 109:
doi: 10.1111/add.12570.
(2) The Sewage analysis CORE group
(SCORE).
(3) See Figure 2.4 in the European Drug Report and Perspectives on
drugs.