Illicit drugs are an emerging class of environmental contaminants and mass spectrometry is the technique of choice for their analysis. This landmark reference discusses the analytical techniques used to detect illicit drugs in wastewater and surface water, details how to estimate the levels of contaminants in the environment, and explores the behavior, fate, and toxic effects of this new class of contaminants, now a ubiquitous presence in wastewater and surface water. The book details how an estimate of illicit drug consumption in a given population can be developed from an analysis of the residues of illicit drugs in wastewater. An important resource for analytical chemists, environmental researchers, forensic scientists, biologists, and toxicologists.
About the Author
SARA CASTIGLIONI obtained her PhD from the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research in Milan, Italy, for her work on a project entitled "Occurrence, behaviour and effects of pharmaceuticals for human and veterinary use in aquatic ecosystems." She is author of twenty publications that deal with drugs in the environment.
ETTORE ZUCCATO obtained his postdoctoral degree in human nutrition in 1999 from Milan Medical School and, in 2005, became Head of the Laboratory of Food Toxicology. His current research areas include food safety, the study of dietary chemical contaminants, and other emerging issues in food toxicology.
Dr. ROBERTO FANELLI serves as Head of the Environmental Health Sciences Department at the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, where he employs analytical methods based on mass spectrometry to identify and measure biomarkers in toxicology and environmental pollutants, including therapeutic and illicit drugs.
