Paper-based nanosensors to evaluate community-wide illicit drug use for wastewater-based epidemiology

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is a powerful technique for monitoring illicit drugs of abuse in the community. Here, we report upon a surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) sensor for the sensitive and selective detection of methamphetamine based upon the assembly of noble metal core-shell nanoparticles on a bespoke glassy nanofibrous electrospun paper matrix. The hierarchical structure of the fibrous paper, modified with the synthesized Au@Ag core-shells (Au@Ag) gave strong SERS signalling, enabling us to evaluate the community-wide prevalence of methamphetamine in wastewater treatment plants within Beijing. We show that, when normalized for the daily flow of the wastewater treatment plants and for population density, higher mass loads of drugs are generally found in sewage influent from urban areas, implying greater local methamphetamine usage than that in less populated areas. The user-friendly and disposable paper sensors demonstrate the applicability of rapid on-site illicit drug detection, illustrating the application to wastewater-based epidemiology, which has the potential to inform government agencies regarding societal interventions. (C) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Automated summary

Wastewater-based epidemiology is a powerful technique for monitoring illicit drugs, and a surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy sensor assembled with noble metal core-shell nanoparticles on a custom-made glassy nanofibrous electrospun paper matrix enables sensitive and selective detection of methamphetamine. The study shows that higher drug mass loads are generally found in sewage influent from urban areas, suggesting more local methamphetamine usage compared to less populated areas.