Supervisors info:
Νικόλαος Θωμαΐδης, Τμήμα Χημείας ΕΚΠΑ,
Ειρήνη Παντερή Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Φαρμακευτικής ΕΚΠΑ,
Γκίκας Ευάγγελος Καθηγητής Τμήμα Φαρμακευτικής ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
The rising, widespread consumption of alcohol, notably among young people, causes tremendous concern in our society, while it is associated with serious repercussions for public safety and health. Aside from the conventional, recognized methods for assessing alcohol administration, tracking ethyl sulfate (EtS), a minor metabolite of ethanol, in untreated wastewater has gained popularity. Recently, a supplementary tool for estimating alcohol consumption at the societal level via the so-called Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) approach has been established.
In the current study, a validation protocol, based on Eurachem guidelines, has been implemented in terms of linearity, precision, trueness, limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) to assure the reliability of the acquired analytical information. A comprehensive and sensitive methodology, based on Hydrophilic Interaction Liquid Chromatography (HILIC) -tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS), has been developed for the quantitative confirmatory analysis of EtS in 24-h flow-proportional influent wastewater samples collected from the WWTP of Attica. In the monitoring study carried out, the alcohol metabolite, EtS, was detected in the entire set of analyzed samples above method LOQ (0.1 μg L-1), indicating extensive alcohol consumption among the urban population.
Furthermore, Pearson’s correlation coefficient was calculated to evaluate any potential correlation among the substances of interest. The calculated load of EtS in the WWTP of Attica along the entire investigated period has been found to correlate with the most widely consumed illicit drugs, such as cocaine and tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid (THCA or cannabis). Certain antidepressants, such as mirtazapine, citalopram, venlafaxine, sertraline, and clomipramine were also detected in all of the analyzed samples. Among the five medications evaluated, citalopram showed the strongest correlation with alcohol (r = -0.90).
This study confirms that wastewater-based epidemiology is a well-established and reliable methodology for assessing variations in alcohol consumption patterns, contributing to the efficacy of control and preventive measures implemented in specific areas to minimize alcohol abuse.
Keywords:
Ethyl sulfate, alcohol consumption, Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE), Hydrophilic Interaction Liquid Chromatography (HILIC), tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS)
