Sewage epidemiology — A real-time approach to estimate the consumption of illicit drugs in Brussels, Belgium

The sewage epidemiology approach was applied to a one-year sampling campaign in the largest wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Belgium. The consumption of cocaine (COC), amphetamine (AMP), methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), methamphetamine (METH), methadone (MTD) and heroin (HER) was evaluated based on measured concentrations of the parent compound and/or metabolites in daily 24-hour composite influent wastewater samples. The inevitable back-calculations used in the sewage epidemiology approach were adapted to newly available information regarding the stability of the compounds in wastewa... Mehr ...