Analysis of drugs of abuse and their human metabolites in water by LC-MS2: A non-intrusive tool for drug abuse estimation at the community level

In recent years, analytical chemists have developed analytical methodologies to account for the presence of drugs of abuse (DAs) and their human metabolites in surface and sewage water, where these compounds are at detectable levels (μg/L–ng/L). All these analytical procedures are based on liquid chromatography separation and tandem mass spectrometry detection. In this article, we review aspects of these protocols, including sample preservation, pretreatment and extraction, detection conditions, and matrix effects.Monitoring these emerging contaminants in the environment provides valuable information for investigating their fate and their potential effects in aquatic ecosystems.Concentrations measured in influent sewage water can be used to estimate overall usage of DAs in different locations. We discuss this approach, the concentrations of the most relevant DAs and their metabolites in water, and other relevant data for the calculation of usage from concentrations in water (e.g., drug doses and excretion rates), and we compile correction factors.