Researchers have documented the flow of so-called drugs of abuse, such as cocaine, methamphetamine, and ecstasy, in rivers and streams from Venice, Italy, to Florence, Ore. However, new research published in ES&T (DOI 10.1021/es800768h) shows that conventional drinking-water treatment successfully removes these drugs and others considered to be more benign, such as caffeine and nicotine. The re...

REFERENCE: Negrusz A, Perry JL, Moore CM. Detection of dollar bills that line their pockets. Considering all this information, cocaine on various denominations of United States currency. J can casual contact with money contaminated with cocaine result Forensic Sci 1998;43(3)626–629. in positive urinalysis? In one study (2), the reported concentration of benzoylecgonine in urine following casual...

A 54-year-old woman (165 cm, 37 kg) was found dead in her home during a welfare check after not having been seen for at least three days. The body showed clear evidence of decomposition. Her head was in what appeared to be a pool of blood. The residence was clean, neat, and showed no evidence of violence. Insulin was found in the refrigerator, and syringes were in the kitchen cabinet. In agreem...

This paper describes quantitative methods for determination of urinary drugs/metabolites. The analysis included indicators of opiate (morphine, codeine, 6-monoacetylmorphine) and methadone (methadone) consumption, indicator of marihuana/hashish consumption (11-nor-9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid), indicators of cocaine consumption (cocaine, benzoylecgonine, and ecgonine methyl ester) a...

Levamisole, a veterinary antihelminthic, was recently recognized as an adulterant in cocaine and is known to cause severe adverse reactions in some cocaine users. Because of the health concerns involving levamisole-adulterated cocaine, we developed a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) method for the detection of levamisole in urine. This method was used to determine the p...

A rapid, rugged, and highly specific assay for the quantitation of cocaine (COC) and especially its primary metabolites benzoylecgonine (BZE) and ecgonine methyl ester (EME) in human urine has been established. Here, we investigated the use of on-line sample extraction coupled to rapid chromatography systems for tandem mass analysis of COC, EME, and BZE in human urine. Using this method, sample...

In 2010, a Europe-wide network (Sewage Analysis CORE Group — Europe) was established to standardise the approach to wastewater analysis and to coordinate national studies. Following the success of an initial study in 19 European cities (Thomas et al., 2012) a comparable study was undertaken covering 23 cities in 11 European countries in 2012 and 42 cities in 21 European countries in 2013 (Ort e...

Daily 24 hour composite influent wastewater samples were collected from the wastewater treatment plant of Brussels-North (Belgium) for eight months to study variations in the concentrations and mass loads of nine illicit drugs and metabolites: cocaine (COC) and its metabolites benzoylecgonine (BE) and ecgonine methyl ester (EME), amphetamine (AMP), methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), methamph...

Driving under the influence of drugs is an issue of growing concern in the industrialized countries as a risk and a cause for road accidents. In forensic toxicology, the increasing number of samples for determination of drugs in blood is mainly due to zero-tolerance laws in several countries and well-trained police officers who can better recognize drivers under the influence of drugs of abuse....