PMID- 35427945
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20220524
LR  - 20221207
IS  - 1873-4758 (Electronic)
IS  - 0955-3959 (Print)
IS  - 0955-3959 (Linking)
VI  - 104
DP  - 2022 Jun
TI  - Temporal monitoring of stimulants during the COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium through 
      the analysis of influent wastewater.
PG  - 103679
LID - S0955-3959(22)00099-8 [pii]
LID - 10.1016/j.drugpo.2022.103679 [doi]
AB  - BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is a complementary 
      epidemiological data source to monitor stimulant consumption. The aims were to: 
      (i) study intra- and inter-year temporal changes in stimulant use in Belgium 
      during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic; and (ii) evaluate the effect of 
      COVID-19 restrictive measures on stimulant consumption. METHODS: The study 
      population corresponded to the catchments of four wastewater treatment plants 
      corresponding with four Belgian cities (i.e., Antwerp-Zuid, Boom, Brussels, 
      Leuven). Daily 24-h composite influent wastewater samples collected over one week 
      in September 2019 and March through June 2020 during the first wave of the 
      COVID-19 pandemic were analyzed for biomarkers of amphetamine, cocaine, 
      methamphetamine and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). Measured 
      concentrations were converted to population-normalized mass loads by considering 
      the daily flow rate and the catchment population size. Mobile network data was 
      used to accurately capture population movements in the different catchment areas. 
      Temporal changes were assessed with multiple linear regression models, and the 
      effect of the COVID-19 interventions on stimulant consumption were investigated. 
      RESULTS: An increase in amphetamine use was observed in three cities during 
      governmental restrictions, with highest consumption predominantly during 
      lockdown. Similarly, cocaine consumption was higher after the pandemic started, 
      with highest consumption noted during the lockdown period in Boom and Leuven. 
      Consumption of MDMA was similar in Antwerp-Zuid, Brussels and Leuven throughout 
      the entire sampled period. In Boom, the highest consumption was observed during 
      the full lockdown period. CONCLUSIONS: The present study shows the potential of 
      WBE to assess the impact of stringent lockdown measures on stimulant use in 
      Belgium. This paper shows that strong restrictive measures did not have a 
      profound effect on stimulant consumption.
CI  - Copyright (c) 2022. Published by Elsevier B.V.
FAU - Boogaerts, Tim
AU  - Boogaerts T
AD  - Toxicological Centre, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, 
      Belgium. Electronic address: Tim.Boogaerts@uantwerpen.be.
FAU - Quireyns, Maarten
AU  - Quireyns M
AD  - Toxicological Centre, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, 
      Belgium.
FAU - De Prins, Maarten
AU  - De Prins M
AD  - Toxicological Centre, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, 
      Belgium.
FAU - Pussig, Bram
AU  - Pussig B
AD  - Academisch Centrum voor Huisartsengeneeskunde, Department of Public Health and 
      primary Care, KU Leuven, Kapucijnenvoer 7, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
FAU - De Loof, Hans
AU  - De Loof H
AD  - Laboratory of Physiopharmacology, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 
      2610 Wilrijk, Belgium.
FAU - Mathei, Catharina
AU  - Mathei C
AD  - Academisch Centrum voor Huisartsengeneeskunde, Department of Public Health and 
      primary Care, KU Leuven, Kapucijnenvoer 7, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
FAU - Aertgeerts, Bert
AU  - Aertgeerts B
AD  - Academisch Centrum voor Huisartsengeneeskunde, Department of Public Health and 
      primary Care, KU Leuven, Kapucijnenvoer 7, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
FAU - Van Coppenolle, Virginie
AU  - Van Coppenolle V
AD  - Cropland, Willem van Laarstraat 86, 2600 Berchem, Belgium.
FAU - Fransen, Erik
AU  - Fransen E
AD  - StatUa Core facility, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, 
      Belgium.
FAU - Covaci, Adrian
AU  - Covaci A
AD  - Toxicological Centre, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, 
      Belgium.
FAU - van Nuijs, Alexander L N
AU  - van Nuijs ALN
AD  - Toxicological Centre, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, 
      Belgium. Electronic address: Alexander.vannuijs@uantwerpen.be.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20220404
PL  - Netherlands
TA  - Int J Drug Policy
JT  - The International journal on drug policy
JID - 9014759
RN  - 0 (Amphetamines)
RN  - 0 (Central Nervous System Stimulants)
RN  - 0 (Waste Water)
RN  - I5Y540LHVR (Cocaine)
RN  - KE1SEN21RM (N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine)
SB  - IM
MH  - Amphetamines
MH  - Belgium/epidemiology
MH  - *COVID-19/epidemiology
MH  - *Central Nervous System Stimulants
MH  - *Cocaine
MH  - Communicable Disease Control
MH  - Humans
MH  - *N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine/analysis
MH  - Pandemics
MH  - Substance Abuse Detection
MH  - Wastewater/analysis
PMC - PMC8977453
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - COVID-19 interventions
OT  - Consumption
OT  - Lockdown
OT  - Stimulants
OT  - Temporal analysis
OT  - Wastewater-based epidemiology
COIS- Declarations of Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing 
      financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to 
      influence the work reported in this paper.
EDAT- 2022/04/16 06:00
MHDA- 2022/05/25 06:00
PMCR- 2022/04/04
CRDT- 2022/04/15 20:15
PHST- 2022/01/18 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2022/03/25 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2022/03/30 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2022/04/16 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2022/05/25 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2022/04/15 20:15 [entrez]
PHST- 2022/04/04 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - S0955-3959(22)00099-8 [pii]
AID - 103679 [pii]
AID - 10.1016/j.drugpo.2022.103679 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Int J Drug Policy. 2022 Jun;104:103679. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2022.103679. Epub 
      2022 Apr 4.