The complexities associated with new psychoactive substances in influent wastewater: the case of 4‐ethylmethcathinone

TY - JOUR

T1 - The complexities associated with new psychoactive substances in influent wastewater: the case of 4‐ethylmethcathinone

AU - Bade, Richard

AU - Abbate, Vincenzo

AU - Abdelaziz, Ahmed

AU - Nguyen, Lynn

AU - Trobbiani, Stephen

AU - Stockham, Peter

AU - Elliot, Simon

AU - White, Jason M.

AU - Gerber, Cobus

PY - 2020/10/1

Y1 - 2020/10/1

N2 - Consumption of new psychoactive substances (NPS) is an international problem for health, policing, forensic, and analytical laboratories. The transience of these substances in the community, combined with continual slight structural changes to evade legislation makes the elucidation of NPS an analytical challenge. This is amplified in a matrix as complex as wastewater. For that reason, suspect and non-target methodologies, employing high resolution mass spectrometry are the most appropriate current tool to facilitate the identification of new and existing compounds. In the current work, a qualitative screening method of influent wastewater using liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry showed a strong signal at m/z 192.1382 – identical to that of two NPS standards that were in our method (pentedrone and 4-methylethcathinone), and with identical fragment ions, but the retention times did not match. This work shows the methodology followed to identify this compound, highlighting the challenges of the identifying “new” compounds in influent wastewater.

AB - Consumption of new psychoactive substances (NPS) is an international problem for health, policing, forensic, and analytical laboratories. The transience of these substances in the community, combined with continual slight structural changes to evade legislation makes the elucidation of NPS an analytical challenge. This is amplified in a matrix as complex as wastewater. For that reason, suspect and non-target methodologies, employing high resolution mass spectrometry are the most appropriate current tool to facilitate the identification of new and existing compounds. In the current work, a qualitative screening method of influent wastewater using liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry showed a strong signal at m/z 192.1382 – identical to that of two NPS standards that were in our method (pentedrone and 4-methylethcathinone), and with identical fragment ions, but the retention times did not match. This work shows the methodology followed to identify this compound, highlighting the challenges of the identifying “new” compounds in influent wastewater.

KW - Australia

KW - high resolution mass spectrometry

KW - synthetic cathinones

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85088264010&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1002/dta.2890

DO - 10.1002/dta.2890

M3 - Article

SN - 1942-7611

VL - 12

SP - 1494

EP - 1500

JO - Drug Testing & Analysis

JF - Drug Testing & Analysis

IS - 10

ER -