Time-Dependent Intrinsic Correlation Analysis Reveals Positive Relationship between Drug Types in Wastewater: Antidepressants vs Illicit Drugs and Analgesics vs Antibiotics/Antivirals
Journal
ACS ES and T Water
ISSN
2690-0637
2690-0637
Date Issued
2024-11-19
Author(s)
DOI
10.1021/acsestwater.4c00340
Abstract
The connection between mental health and illicit substance use disorder is intricate and poorly understood but may potentially be unraveled by examining residues of antidepressants and illicit drugs through wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE). In this study, we assessed time-dependent intrinsic correlations (TDIC) between the concentrations of antidepressants and illicit drugs and their metabolites in untreated sewage samples during three sampling campaigns, from September 2022 to May 2024. Notable positive correlations (+medium in 2022; +weak in 2023; +medium in 2024) were observed between illicit drugs (e.g., methamphetamine, cocaine, and its benzoylecgonine metabolite) and bupropion (an antidepressant). For other psychoactive drugs examined (citalopram, venlafaxine, and its metabolite desvenlafaxine), +medium correlations were observed with illicit drugs in the 2023 and 2024 sampling campaigns. This is the first time WBE demonstrates the interconnection between prescription psychoactive drugs, such as antidepressants, and illicit drugs, underscoring TDIC’s strength in extracting information from complementary data. We applied similar data analytics using residues of antivirals and antibiotics in untreated sewage and their correlation with acetaminophen; the expected results were obtained. TDIC between acetaminophen and antibiotics showed a strong correlation during the whole sampling event, supporting the applicability of TDIC in WBE research.
Subjects
community health
data analytics
liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry
opioids
pharmaceuticals
wastewater-based epidemiology
Publisher
American Chemical Society (ACS)
Type
journal article