Quantitative analysis of drugs of abuse and cognitive enhancers in influent wastewater by means of two chromatographic methods

Two methods for qualitative and quantitative analysis of selected drugs of abuse and a cognitive enhancer in wastewater samples were successfully developed and validated. A two-column setup was necessary for the analysis of all analytes included in this method. Evaluation of proof-of-concept samples enabled quantification of several analytes in wastewater grab samples, allowing the method to be used for monitoring trends in the consumption of the included analytes in wastewater. AbstractSewage-based epidemiology using influent wastewater is used to estimate the consumption trends of (illicit) drugs over a short or long period of time in a subpopulation. The current study aimed to develop two separate methods for the quantitative analysis of selected drugs of abuse (DOA) and cognitive enhancers in influent wastewater using reversed-phase (RP) or hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) coupled to high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS/MS). The performance of RP and HILIC column was evaluated. A simple solid phase extraction was used for sample preparation. Short runtimes of 10 and 15  min on the RP and the HILIC column, respectively, allowed sufficient throughput. A six-point calibration was used for quantification with calibration ranges between 10 and 100 ng/L for all analytes except for benzoylecgonine (BZE, 30–300 ng/L). Method validation was performed according to I CH guideline M10. Analytes such as amphetamine (AMPH), BZE, cocaethylene (C...
Source: Drug Testing and Analysis - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research