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Tracing consumption patterns of stimulants, opioids, and ketamine in China by wastewater-based epidemiology

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Abstract

Illicit drug use has long been a key issue of international concern, and the true situation is unknown to the relevant authorities. To develop a profile of comprehensive consumption patterns of illicit drugs in China, data from 34 wastewater treatment plants in 25 cities were collected to analyze four classes of drugs, including amphetamine-type stimulants, opioids, ketamine, and cocaine. They were identified and quantified in samples using methods based on gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. According to the wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) approach, an analysis of the consumption pattern was performed regarding per inhabitant consumption based on the revised metabolic rate. The consumption quantity of illicit drug and precursor was divided into four categories based on statistical difference analyses: methamphetamine and ephedrine (precursor) were the predominant drugs in the first category, followed by ketamine and heroin in the second category, methcathinone and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in the third category, and cocaine and methadone in the fourth category. There were distinctive spatial patterns: heroin and cocaine consumption was higher in Southern China than in Northern China, heroin consumption was higher in Western China than in Eastern China, and the consumption of each drug differed across seven regions of China, especially with ephedrine and methcathinone consumption higher in North China; heroin consumption higher in Southwest, Central, and Northwest China; and ketamine and MDMA consumption higher in East, South, and Central China. Compared with findings in previous studies, there were temporal patterns, in which ketamine consumption presented a downward trend but heroin remained stable. Based on correlation analyses, there were the polydrug abuse patterns between heroin and cocaine, methcathinone and ketamine, and cocaine and MDMA. In general, this study based on WBE provides a comprehensive evaluation of drug consumption in China.

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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article (and its supplementary information files).

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Funding

This study was supported by the Dalian Science and Technology Innovation Foundation (Grant numbers 2019J13SN123 and 2018J12GX043), Key R&D Plan Program of Liaoning Province, and the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant number 2019YFC1407700). The funding source had no involvement in the design of this study and also have no role during its execution, analyses, interpretation of the data, or decision to submit results.

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Contributions

Conceptualization: Si-Yu Liu. Methodology: Si-Yu Liu, Wen-Jing Yu, and Yi-Ru Wang. Formal analysis and investigation: Si-Yu Liu. Writing—original draft preparation: Si-Yu Liu. Writing—review and editing: Si-Yu Liu, Xue-Ting Shao, and De-Gao Wang. Funding acquisition: De-Gao Wang. Supervision: De-Gao Wang.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to De-Gao Wang.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Responsible Editor: Lotfi Aleya

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Highlights

•The climate, geography, economy, and use history would lead to spatial differences.

•The quantity of drug consumption was divided into four categories statistically.

•Significant correlations were shown between several drugs.

•About 175 t/a illicit drugs were consumed in China based on mathematical models.

•A new excretion factor (77.0%) was constructed for ephedrine by meta-analysis.

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Liu, SY., Yu, WJ., Wang, YR. et al. Tracing consumption patterns of stimulants, opioids, and ketamine in China by wastewater-based epidemiology. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 16754–16766 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-12035-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-12035-w

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