Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is increasingly used as a complementary tool for monitoring drug use at the population level, providing anonymized, real-time estimates of community drug consumption. Site-specific applications of WBE can identify localized patterns that national or municipal surveys may overlook. This study presents the first comprehensive, site-specific assessment of...
22 illicit drugs were monitored in Seoul, the capital of South Korea for 21 days using wastewater-based epidemiology to assess the drug usage patterns for the first time by region and social status. Among the targeted compounds, 10 were detected, with consistent detection of methamphetamine in samples over the entire sampling period. In addition, ketamine had the highest estimated consumption...
The proliferation of new psychoactive substances (NPS) over recent years has made their surveillance complex. The analysis of raw municipal influent wastewater can allow a broader insight into community consumption patterns of NPS. This study examines data from an international wastewater surveillance program that collected and analysed influent wastewater samples from up to 47 sites in 16...