![]() ![]() The SCORE group has been conducting annual wastewater monitoring campaigns since 2011, when 19 cities from 10 countries participated and four stimulant drugs were studied. We are also encouraged by its growing potential for targeting and evaluating localised public health responses and policy initiatives’. Now an established science, wastewater surveillance provides us with increasing insight into the dynamics of drug use and supply. Today’s findings, from a record 104 cities, paint a picture of a drugs problem that is both widespread and complex, with all six substances detected in almost every location. Despite detections varying considerably across the study locations, it is noteworthy that all six illicit drugs investigated were found in almost every participating city.Īlexis Goosdeel, EMCDDA Director says: ‘Wastewater samples can tell revealing stories about the lives of a community and can provide an early warning of emerging health threats. A mixed picture emerges for the remaining substances where trends can be observed (amphetamine, cannabis, MDMA). The methamphetamine situation also appears to be evolving, with more cities reporting traces of the drug. ![]() ![]() ![]() The latest results show a continued rise in cocaine detections, a trend observed since 2016 (despite some fluctuation during COVID-19 lockdowns). Wastewater samples from some 54 million people were analysed for traces of five illicit stimulant drugs (cocaine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, MDMA/ecstasy and ketamine) as well as cannabis. Ketamine was included in the analysis for the first time in 2022, bringing the total number of substances examined to six.įrom Copenhagen to Valencia and Nicosia to Lisbon, the latest study analysed daily wastewater samples in the catchment areas of wastewater treatment plants over a one-week period between March and April 2022. The project analysed wastewater in a record 104 European cities from 21 countries (20 EU + Türkiye) to explore the drug-taking behaviours of their inhabitants. The analysis reveals a rise in cocaine and methamphetamine detections and describes how wastewater research can now tell us more. The latest findings from the largest European project in the science of wastewater analysis are released today in Wastewater analysis and drugs - a European multi-city study, published by the Europe-wide SCORE group, in association with the EU drugs agency (EMCDDA). ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |