Laetitia Theunis

Cocaine and metabolites in waste and surface water across Belgium

Cocaine abuse, a growing social problem, is currently estimated from population surveys, consumer interviews and crime statistics. A new approach based on the analysis of cocaine (COC) and metabolites, benzoylecgonine (BE) and ecgonine methyl ester (EME), in water samples was applied to 28 rivers and 37 waste water treatment plants in Belgium using solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. While EME was undetectable, COC and BE were detectable with concentrations ranging from <1 to 753 ng/L and <1 to 2258 ng/L, respectively. BE concentrations were employed to calculate the local amount of abused cocaine. The highest values (up to 1.8 g/day cocaine per 1000 inhabitants) were found in large cities and during weekends. The estimation of cocaine abuse through water analysis can be executed on regular basis without cooperation of patients. It also gives clear geographical information, while prevention campaigns can easily be implemented and evaluated.

Innovative development and validation of an HPLC/DAD method for the qualitative and quantitative determination of major cannabinoids in cannabis plant material

GC is commonly used for the analysis of cannabis samples, e.g. in forensic chemistry. However, as this method is based on heating of the sample, acidic forms of cannabinoids are decarboxylated into their neutral counterparts. Conversely, HPLC permits the determination of the original composition of plant cannabinoids by direct analysis. Several HPLC methods have been described in the literature, but most of them failed to separate efficiently all the cannabinoids or were not validated according to general guidelines. By use of an innovative methodology for modelling chromatographic responses, a simple and accurate HPLC/DAD method was developed for the quantification of major neutral and acidic cannabinoids present in cannabis plant material: Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), THC acid (THCA), cannabidiol (CBD), CBD acid (CBDA), cannabigerol (CBG), CBG acid (CBGA) and cannabinol (CBN). Delta8-Tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta8-THC) was determined qualitatively. Following the practice of design of experiments, predictive multilinear models were developed and used in order to find optimal chromatographic analytical conditions. The method was validated following an approach using accuracy profiles based on beta-expectation tolerance intervals for the total error measurement, and assessing the measurements uncertainty. This analytical method can be used for diverse applications, e.g. plant phenotype determination, evaluation of psychoactive potency and control of material quality.

Can cocaine use be evaluated through analysis of wastewater? A nation-wide approach conducted in Belgium.

AIMS Cocaine is the second most-used illicit drug world-wide and its consumption is increasing significantly, especially in western Europe. Until now, the annual prevalence has been estimated indirectly by means of interviews. A recently introduced and direct nation-wide approach based on measurements of the major urinary excreted metabolite of cocaine, benzoylecgonine, in wastewater is proposed. DESIGN Wastewater samples from 41 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Belgium, covering approximately 3,700,000 residents, were collected. Each WWTP was sampled on Wednesdays and Sundays during two sampling campaigns in 2007-08. Samples were analysed for cocaine (COC) and its metabolites, benzoylecgonine (BE) and ecgonine methylester (EME) by a validated procedure based on liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. Concentrations of BE were used to calculate cocaine consumption (g/day per 1000 inhabitants) for each WWTP region and for both sampling campaigns (g/year per 1000 inhabitants). FINDINGS Weekend days showed significantly higher cocaine consumption compared with weekdays. The highest cocaine consumption was observed for WWTPs receiving wastewater from large cities, such as Antwerp, Brussels and Charleroi. Results were extrapolated for the total Belgian population and an estimation of a yearly prevalence of cocaine use was made based on various assumptions. An amount of 1.88 tonnes (t) per year [standard error (SE) 0.05 t] cocaine is consumed in Belgium, corresponding to a yearly prevalence of 0.80% (SE 0.02%) for the Belgian population aged 15-64 years. This result is in agreement with an earlier reported estimate of the Belgian prevalence of cocaine use conducted through socio-epidemiological studies (0.9% for people aged 15-64 years). CONCLUSIONS Wastewater analysis is a promising tool to evaluate cocaine consumption at both local and national scale. This rapid and direct estimation of the prevalence of cocaine use in Belgium corresponds with socio-epidemiological data. However, the strategy needs to be refined further to allow a more exact calculation of cocaine consumption from concentrations of BE in wastewater.