The Science of the total environment
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Sci. Total Environ. · Aug 2015
The first application of wastewater-based drug epidemiology in five South Korean cities.
Illicit drug consumption in five cities in South Korea was estimated by analyzing 17 drug residues in untreated wastewater samples collected during the Christmas and New Year period of 2012-13. Only methamphetamine, amphetamine, and codeine were detected at concentrations of tens of nanograms per liter or even lower concentrations in more than 90% of the samples. Other illicit drug residues (including cocaine, methadone, and benzoylecgonine) that have been detected frequently in wastewater from other countries were not found in this study. ⋯ This rate is, for example, 2-5 times lower than the estimated average consumption rates in Hong Kong and other parts of China and 4-80 times lower than the estimated average consumption rates in cities in Western countries. It should be noted that the wastewater samples analyzed in this study were collected during a holiday season, when daily consumption of illicit drugs is often higher than on an average day. The methamphetamine usage rates were calculated for different cities in South Korea, and the usage rates in smaller cities was higher (2-4 times) than the average.
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This study improves the spatial coverage of top-down Ambrosia pollen source inventories for Europe by expanding the methodology to Austria, a country that is challenging in terms of topography and the distribution of ragweed plants. The inventory combines annual ragweed pollen counts from 19 pollen-monitoring stations in Austria (2004-2013), 657 geographical observations of Ambrosia plants, a Digital Elevation Model (DEM), local knowledge of ragweed ecology and CORINE land cover information from the source area. The highest mean annual ragweed pollen concentrations were generally recorded in the East of Austria where the highest densities of possible growth habitats for Ambrosia were situated. Approximately 99% of all observations of Ambrosia populations were below 745m. The European infection level varies from 0.1% at Freistadt in Northern Austria to 12.8% at Rosalia in Eastern Austria. More top-down Ambrosia pollen source inventories are required for other parts of Europe. ⋯ A method for constructing top-down pollen source inventories for invasive ragweed plants in Austria, a country that is challenging in terms of topography and ragweed distribution.