Wastewater analysis
Belgium
Bulgaria
Wastewater analysis
Activities in the area of wastewater analysis
Analysing communal wastewaters for drugs and their metabolic products in order to estimate their consumption in the community is a developing field, involving scientists working in different research areas, including analytical chemistry, physiology and biochemistry, sewage engineering, spatial epidemiology and statistics, and conventional drug epidemiology.
Latest news
- Latest data reveal drug-taking habits in close to 60 European cities (March 2018)
- Registration and abstract submission now open for 'Testing the waters' — third international conference on wastewater analysis, 26-27 October 2017, Lisbon
- Perspective on drugs: Wastewater analysis and drugs — a European multi-city study (May 2016)
- EMCDDA Insights: Assessing illicit drugs in wastewater (March 2016)
Data
In 2017 this Europe-wide study, which includes around 60 cities in total, revealed a picture of distinct geographical and temporal patterns of drug use across European cities. Twenty one cities have participated in at least five of the annual wastewater monitoring campaigns since 2011, which allows for seven-year time trend analysis of drug consumption based on wastewater testing. Following the success of this initial study, comparable studies were undertaken over the following four years, covering up to 19 European countries in 2017.
Explore the interactive tool.
EMCDDA hosted three meetings in Lisbon on the topic of drugs and wastewater
December 2012, Lisbon
Kick-off meeting: EMCDDA demonstration project
January 2012, Lisbon
Key documents and related project studies
Related projects
Guidelines
- SCORE ethical research guidelines for wastewater-based epidemiology and related fields (March 2016)
- SCORE consensus protocol for sampling, analysis and reporting (October 2013)
Key scientific articles
2016
- Been, F., Bijlsma, L., Benaglia, L., et al, (2016), ‘Assessing geographical differences in illicit drug consumption—A comparison of results from epidemiological and wastewater data in Germany and Switzerland’, Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 161, p.189-199.
- Castiglioni, S., Borsotti, A., Riva, F., Zuccato, E., (2016), ‘Illicit drug consumption estimated by wastewater analysis in different districts of Milan: A case study’, Drug and Alcohol Review, 35, 2, p.128-132.
- Kankaanpää, A., Ariniemi, K, Heinonen, M., Kuoppasalmi, K., Gunnar T., (2016), ‘Current trends in Finnish drug abuse: Wastewater based epidemiology combined with other national indicators’, Science of the Total Environment, 568, p.864–874.
- Zuccato, E., Castiglioni, S., Senta I., (2016, ‘Population surveys compared with wastewater analysis for monitoring illicit drug consumption in Italy in 2010–2014’, Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 161, p. 178–188.
2015
- Been, F., Benaglia, L., Lucia, S., et.al, (2015), ‘Data triangulation in the context of opioids monitoring via wastewater analyses’, Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 151, pp.203-210.
- Rodríguez-Álvarez, T., Racamonde, I., González-Mariño, I., et.al, (2015), ‘Alcohol and cocaine co-consumption in two European cities assessed by wastewater analysis’, Science of the Total Environment, 536, pp. 91-98.
Other
- Special Section: Testing the waters: a selection of papers from the first international multidisciplinary conference on detecting illicit drugs in wastewater (May 2014).
- University of Antwerp and National Geographic (2013), ‘Behind the science: Drug sewers’ (video), YouTube.
- Assessing illicit drugs in wastewater (EMCDDA Insights 9, March 2008). A multilingual summary of the report in 23 languages is also available.
Archive
- Dyken, E., Thai, P., Lai, F Y., et.al, (2014), ‘Monitoring substance use in prisons: Assessing the potential value of wastewater analysis’, Science & Justice, 54, 5, pp.338-345.
- Mackulak, T., Škubák, J., Grabic, R., et.al, (2014), ‘National study of illicit drug use in Slovakia based on wastewater analysis’, Science of the Total Environment, 494-495, pp.158-165.
- Ort, C., van Nuijs A.L.N., Berset J-D, et al. (2014), ‘Spatial differences and temporal changes in illicit drug use in Europe quantified by wastewater analysis’, Addiction, 109, doi: 10.1111/add.12570.
- Prichard, J., Hall, W., de Voogt, P. and Zuccato, E. (2014), ‘Sewage epidemiology and illicit drug research: the development of ethical research guidelines’, Science of the Total Environment, 47(2), pp. 550–555.
- Castiglioni, S., Bijlsma, L., Covaci A., et al. (2013b), ‘Evaluation of uncertainties associated with the determination of community drug use through the measurement of sewage drug biomarkers’, Environmental Science and Technology, 47(3), pp. 1452–1460.
- Thomas K., Bijlsmab L., Castiglioni S., et al. (2012) Comparing illicit drug use in 19 European cities through sewage analysis. Science of the Total Environment 432, 432-439.
About the EMCDDA
The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) is the reference point on drugs and drug addiction information in Europe. Inaugurated in Lisbon in 1995, it is one of the EU’s decentralised agencies. Read more >>
Contact
The EMCDDA is located at:
Praça Europa 1, Cais do Sodré
1249-289 Lisbon
Portugal
Tel. (351) 211 21 02 00
