The analysis of illicit drugs in urban wastewater is the basis of wastewater‐based epidemiology (WBE), and has received much scientific attention because the concentrations measured can be used as a new non‐intrusive tool to provide evidence‐based and real‐time estimates of community‐wide drug consumption. Moreover, WBE allows monitoring patterns and spatial and temporal trends of drug use. Although information and expertise from other disciplines is required to refine and effectively apply WBE, analytical chemistry is the fundamental driver in this field. The use of advanced analytical techniques, commonly based on combined chromatography—mass spectrometry, is mandatory because the very low analyte concentration and the complexity of samples (raw wastewater) make quantification and identification/confirmation of illicit drug biomarkers (IDBs) troublesome. We review the most‐recent literature available (mostly from the last 5 years) on the determination of IDBs in wastewater with particular emphasis on the different analytical strategies applied. The predominance of liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry to quantify target IDBs and the essence to produce reliable and comparable results is illustrated. Accordingly, the importance to perform inter‐laboratory exercises and the need to analyze appropriate quality controls in each sample sequence is highlighted. Other crucial steps in WBE, such as sample collection and sample pre‐treatment, are briefly and carefully discussed. The article further focuses on the potential of high‐resolution mass spectrometry. Different approaches for target and non‐target analysis are discussed, and the interest to perform experiments under laboratory‐controlled conditions, as a complementary tool to investigate related compounds (e.g., minor metabolites and/or transformation products in wastewater) is treated. The article ends up with the trends and future perspectives in this field from the authors’ point of view. © 2016 by The Authors. Mass Spectrometry Reviews published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Mass Spec Rev 37:258–280, 2018

中文翻译：

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用于调查废水中非法药物使用生物标志物的质谱策略

城市废水中非法药物的分析是基于废水的流行病学 (WBE) 的基础，并且受到了广泛的科学关注，因为测量的浓度可以用作新的非侵入性工具来提供基于证据的实时估计社区范围内的药物消费。此外，WBE 还可以监测药物使用的模式以及空间和时间趋势。尽管需要其他学科的信息和专业知识来完善和有效应用 WBE，但分析化学是该领域的基本驱动力。必须使用通常基于组合色谱-质谱分析的先进分析技术，因为分析物浓度极低且样品（原废水）复杂，使得非法药物生物标志物 (IDB) 的定量和识别/确认变得困难。我们回顾了关于废水中 IDB 测定的最新文献（主要是过去 5 年的文献），特别强调了所采用的不同分析策略。阐述了液相色谱与串联质谱联用来量化目标 IDB 的优势，以及产生可靠和可比较结果的本质。因此，强调了进行实验室间练习的重要性以及在每个样品序列中分析适当的质量控制的必要性。简要而仔细地讨论了 WBE 中的其他关键步骤，例如样品采集和样品预处理。本文进一步关注高分辨率质谱的潜力。讨论了目标和非目标分析的不同方法，并讨论了在实验室控制条件下进行实验的兴趣，作为研究相关化合物（例如废水中的次要代谢物和/或转化产物）的补充工具。文章最后从作者的角度阐述了该领域的趋势和未来前景。© 2016 作者版权所有。Wiley periodicals, Inc. 出版的质谱评论。 Mass Spec Rev 37:258–280, 2018