High-throughput screening of 311 new psychoactive substances and metabolites in wastewater by direct injection UPLC-MS/MS.
Yue Xiao, Shuai Yuan, Ruxin Luo, Ruiqin Zhu, Qiongying Zheng, Bin Di, Ping Xiang
Journal of chromatography. B, Analytical technologies in the biomedical and life sciences August 1, 2025 DOI: 10.1016/j.jchromb.2025.124659 via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractA high-throughput screening method using direct injection was developed to detect 311 new psychoactive substances (NPS) and their metabolites in wastewater, covering synthetic cannabinoids, cathinones, phenylethylamines, tryptamines, phencyclidines, benzodiazepines, fentanyls, and piperazines. The method runs in 16 minutes, with 95.8% of targets having a limit of detection at or below 10 ng/L and recoveries between 71.01% and 119.88%. Applied to 976 real samples from a Chinese city, it identified 32 substances, with ketamine detected most frequently. This approach offers a simple analytical tool for wastewater monitoring to support early warning and assessment of drug trends.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Method development and validation Qualitative Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 976 |
| Population | Wastewater samples from a city in China |
| Keywords | Direct injection New psychoactive substances Wastewater analysis Drug detection Analytical chemistry |
| Citations | 3 |
| Key finding | A direct-injection high-throughput method detected 32 NPS in 976 wastewater samples, with ketamine showing the highest detection rate. |
Abstract
The rapid global spread of new psychoactive substances (NPS) in recent years has become an issue in many countries. One emerging technology that can provide early warnings and assessments of drug situations is the monitoring of NPS in wastewater. In this study, we developed and optimized a high-throughput qualitative screening method based on direct injection that enabled the simultaneous detection of 311 NPS and metabolites (87 synthetic cannabinoids, 43 synthetic cathinones, 71 phenylethylamines, 10 tryptamines, 40 phencyclidines, 9 benzodiazepines, 38 fentanyls, and 13 piperazines) in wastewater. The run time for drug detection was only 16 min, and the method was validated to perform well in terms of selectivity, limit of detection (LOD), recovery, and matrix effect. Overall, 95.8 % of the targets had an LOD ≤10 ng/L and the recoveries ranged from 71.01 % to 119.88 %. The method was validated on 976 real samples from a city in China, and 32 substances were detected, with the highest detection rate for ketamine. This study provides a simple and direct analytical method for wastewater monitoring, which will aid in combating drug-related crime and maintaining social stability as new NPS continue to enter global markets.