Three years of wastewater surveillance for new psychoactive substances from 16 countries.
Water research X May 1, 2023 Richard Bade, Nikolaos Rousis, Sangeet Adhikari et al. 47 citations
An international wastewater surveillance program analyzed influent samples from up to 47 sites in 16 countries between 2019 and 2022, detecting 18 new psychoactive substances (NPS) across at least one site. Synthetic cathinones were the most common class, followed by phenethylamines and designer benzodiazepines. Two ketamine analogues, the plant-based NPS mitragynine, and methiopropamine were also quantified. Use varied by region: mitragynine mass loads were highest in US sites, eutylone increased in New Zealand, and 3-methylmethcathinone rose in several European countries. The ketamine analogue 2F-deschloroketamine emerged recently and was quantified in sites including one in China, where it is considered a drug of most concern. Some NPS initially detected in specific regions spread to additional sites over time, demonstrating that wastewater surveillance can reveal temporal and spatial trends in NPS use.