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Air monitoring for illegal drugs including new psychoactive substances: A review of trends, techniques and thermal degradation products.

Gent, L. and Paul, R., 2021. Air monitoring for illegal drugs including new psychoactive substances: A review of trends, techniques and thermal degradation products. Drug Testing and Analysis, 13 (6), 1078-1094.

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DOI: 10.1002/dta.3051

Abstract

The detection of illicit psychotropic substances in both indoor and outdoor air is a challenging analytical discipline and the data from such investigation may provide intelligence in a variety of fields. Applications of drug monitoring in air include providing data on national and international drug consumption trends, as monitored by organisations such as the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Air monitoring enables mapping of illicit drug manufacturing, dealing or consumption in cities and the identification of emergent compounds including the recent proliferation of new psychoactive substances (NPS). The rapid spread of NPS has changed the global drug market with greater diversity and dynamic spread of such compounds over several nations. This review provides an up to date analysis of key thematic areas within this analytical discipline. The process of how illicit psychotropic substances spread from emission sources to the atmosphere is considered alongside the sampling and analytical procedures involved. Applications of the technique applied globally are reviewed with studies ranging from the analysis of individual dwellings through to major international air monitoring campaigns providing evidence on global drug trends. Finally, we consider thermal breakdown products of illicit psychotropic substances including NPS that are released upon heating, combustion or vaping and related potential for exposure to these compounds in the air.

Item Type:Article
ISSN:1942-7603
Uncontrolled Keywords:Drugs of abuse; new psychoactive substances; air monitoring; thermal breakdown products; global drug trends
Group:Faculty of Science & Technology
ID Code:35396
Deposited By: Symplectic RT2
Deposited On:14 Apr 2021 15:21
Last Modified:14 Mar 2022 14:27

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