Issue 28, 2020

Determination of prescribed and designer benzodiazepines and metabolites in influent wastewater

Abstract

Benzodiazepines are important prescription pharmaceuticals used to help in the treatment of anxiety and sleep disorders. However, they also have a strong potential for abuse. In this respect, illicit benzodiazepines, i.e. not prescribed in Australia and designer benzodiazepines, which are new compounds that are not legally prescribed in any jurisdiction, have emerged in the illicit Australian market in recent years. Designer benzodiazepines are a new class of new psychoactive substances (NPS) and are particularly dangerous due to limited toxicity information and propensity to be mistaken for conventional benzodiazepines, leading to severe side effects and potentially death. It is therefore important to assess the prevalence of the use of these compounds in the community. The current work presents a validated liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method for 20 prescribed and designer benzodiazepines and metabolites: 7-amino nimetazepam, alpha-hydroxy alprazolam, alprazolam, clonazepam, delorazepam, deschloroetizolam, diazepam, diclazepam, etizolam, flubromazepam, flunitrazepam, lorazepam, lormetazepam, meclonazepam, midazolam, nimetazepam, nitrazepam, oxazepam, pyrazolam and temazepam. Quetiapine, a prescription sedative drug that has been diverted for non-medical use, was also validated. Limits of quantification were predominantly below 10 ng L−1, except for the ubiquitous oxazepam, quetiapine and temazepam, which were between 75–300 ng L−1. Stability, recovery and matrix effects were also examined. Finally, this method was applied to influent wastewater from South Australia, which showed the presence of many benzodiazepines including the NPS etizolam.

Graphical abstract: Determination of prescribed and designer benzodiazepines and metabolites in influent wastewater

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
18 ⵎⴰⵕ 2020
Accepted
26 ⵢⵓⵏ 2020
First published
30 ⵢⵓⵏ 2020

Anal. Methods, 2020,12, 3637-3644

Determination of prescribed and designer benzodiazepines and metabolites in influent wastewater

R. Bade, M. Ghetia, J. M. White and C. Gerber, Anal. Methods, 2020, 12, 3637 DOI: 10.1039/D0AY00560F

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements