Occurrence and transformation of illicit drugs in wastewater treatment plants.

Illicit drugs (IDs) and their metabolites have been recently recognized as a new group of water emerging contaminants (ECs) with potent psychoactive properties and unknown effects to the aquatic environment (Pal et al., 2013). IDs are excreted via urine and feces and arrive at wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) where can reach ppb levels (Castiglioni et al., 2006). Over the past few years, it has been demonstrated that conventional biological processes in WWTPs are not or scarcely able to remove IDs. Thus, they are discharged into water bodies through the treated effluent (Postigo et al., 2011). Therefore, monitoring the IDs concentration in WWTPs can have a twofold advantage: i. increase knowledge on the amount of IDs discharged in the environment and estimate their effect; ii. estimating indirectly the community level consumption (Senta et al., 2014). The objective of this paper is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the occurrence and behaviour of illicit drugs and their metabolites in two Sicilian WWTPs. Specifically, two WWTPs (namely, WWTP-1 and WWTP-2) located at the north-western Sicilian coast have been monitored for 5 months (one sampling per week). The two WWTPs have a conventional scheme and mainly differ for their potentiality. Indeed, the average daily flow expressed as m3d-1 for WWTP-1 and WWTP-2 was equal to 153,600 and 19,704, respectively. Samples were analyzed for total suspended solids (TSS), illicit drugs and their metabolites (metham-phetamine; COC = cocaine; MDMA = 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine; METH = methadone; EDDP = 2-ethylidene-1,5-dimethyl-3,3-diphenylpyrrolidine; MDA = 3,4-methylenedioxy amphetamine; MDEA = 3,4-methylenedioxy ethylamphetamine; THC-COOH = 11-nor-9-carboxy-\u3949-tetrahydrocannabinol; BEG= Benzoylecgonine). In order to provide a fast and sensitive approach to quantify IDs, an automated online sample preparation method has been developed. The method uses a Thermo Scientific Transcend TLX-1 system powered by TurboFlowTM technology coupled with a TSQ Quantiva Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer. Specifically, THC-COOH has been extracted from 75 \ub5L of pre-filtered water (using 7 and 0.4 \ub5m paper filters) by an online sample extraction method and quantified using an isotopic dilution approach between 30 and 2000 ng L-1

Illicit drugs consumption evaluation by wastewater-based epidemiology in the urban area of Palermo city (Italy)

Introduction. A wastewater-based epidemiology approach was performed to estimate the drug consumption in Palermo city, the fifth largest city of Italy with a population of 671 696 inhabitants, and to investigate the monthly variability of drug loads in wastewater from different areas of the city. A seven-months detection campaign was conducted at the two wastewater treatment plants of the city. Methods. Following a pre-treatment, 32 samples of wastewater were analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Results. We estimated a mean cocaine use in Palermo of 0.19 g/day/1000 people, corresponding to 1.90 doses/1000 people and cannabinoids use of 2.85 g/day/1000 people, corresponding to 35.62 doses/1000 people. Amphetamines residues in wastewater were always recovered in concentrations lower than the limit of quantification. Conclusion. Our findings showed that drugs consumption in Palermo is in line with those of other Italian cities and that no significant differences on prevalence on cocaine and cannabinoids consumption were recorded in the different months of the survey, except for the summer period in a wastewater treatment plant of the city

Medico legal procedures related to sexual assault: a 10-year retrospective experience of a Daphne protocol application

Background: Sexual assault is a worldwide problem that has not yet been sufficiently acknowledged as confirmed by the literature. Italian law n.96, 1996, foreseeing norms regarding rape and sexual abuse, finally gave significant relevance to sex crimes. In 2004, the European Commission for Justice Internal Affairs and Social Politics promoted the Daphne II program to support victims of rape and abuse, and the Violence and Operative Healthcare Networks (Ve.R.S.O.) project started at the Policlinico \ue2\u80\u9cP. Giaccone\ue2\u80\u9d University Hospital of Palermo in 2006. Aim: data analysis emerging from 10 years experience of Daphne protocol utilization for the management of sexual assault victims. Methods: From October 2006 since December 2016 a total of 90 victims of sexual assault were retrospectively investigated. Patients are divided into groups in relation to: gender, age, place of SA, number and type of assailant, nature of sexual assault, presence/absence of physical or genital injuries. Results: Among victims 88 were females (97%) and 2 males (3%); 68 Italians (75.5%) and 22 foreigners (24.5%). At the time the events occurred, 42% (n = 38) of the victims were minors aged less than 16\uc2 years. In 11 cases, the age of the victim is not indicated. The assailant was an acquaintance of the victim in 65% of the cases (in 73% of these cases, the assailant was a family member). In 26 cases (28%) happened indoor, 44 cases happened outdoor and in 20 cases there were no data. Evidence of recent acute general body trauma (abrasions, bruises, lacerations) was found in 38 cases (42%); other types of injuries include: genital trauma (14 cases, 15%), genital and body traumas (49 cases, 54%) (tab. 1\ue2\u80\u932-). In 24 cases (26%) there were no injuries. Among genital trauma, we distinguished vulvo-vaginal lesions (68.5%) and anal lesions (31.5%). We have classified the minor victims using first Adam\ue2\u80\u99s classification and based on Adam\ue2\u80\u99s classification revised in 2015. Conclusion: Application of the Ve.R.S.O project protocol changed and greatly improved health management of victims of violence. By following these procedures, violence and abuse are analyzed from every point of view, also for an appropriate assessment of the medium and long term health consequences of sexual assault. Only in this way are citizens provided with a high level of protection against gender violence, psychological support and prevention from any form of violence which takes place in respect of such vulnerable people

La metodica wastewater based epidemiology come proxy di quantificazione del consumo di sostanze stupefacenti nella popolazione: l\u2019esperienza della citt\ue0 di Palermo.

INTRODUZIONE Le istituzioni europee e la comunit\ue0 scientifica hanno, recentemente, definito un nuovo modello di sorveglianza attiva della potenziale diffusione delle droghe nella collettivit\ue0, la Wastewater Based Epidemiology (WBE), attraverso la ricerca analitica delle molecole e dei loro metaboliti nelle acque reflue cittadine. Lo scopo di questo lavoro \ue8 stato la valutazione di una preliminare applicazione di METODIca WBE nella citt\ue0 di Palermo, poco studiata in precedenti analisi a livello nazionale e internazionale. METODI Sono stati prelevati 28 campioni (2 litri cad) di refluo medio delle 24 ore in ingresso ai due depuratori di Palermo (WP1=45.000 ab. eq.; WP2=330.000 ab. eq.) in un periodo compreso tra giugno e novembre 2015. I campioni sono stati prefiltrati, concentrati ed infine analizzati (200 mml) mediante tecnica di spettrometria di massa LC-MS/MS. Gli analiti ricercati sono stati Cocaina, Benzoilecgonina (BEG), THC-COOH e Amfetamine (MDA, MDE, MDMA, Metamfetamine). \uc8 stato effettuato, inoltre, il calcolo della quantit\ue0 di sostanza stupefacente consumata nella popolazione (gr/die/1.000 abitanti e dosi/die/1.000 abitanti). RISULTATI I RISULTATI ottenuti sono illustrati nella tabella 1. I consumi di sostanze stupefacenti registrati nella citt\ue0 di Palermo (gr/die/1000 ab) sono RISULTATI i seguenti = Cocaina=0,145 (1,45 dosi/1000 ab); THC=4,37 (35,00 dosi/1000 ab), Amfetamine=Non quantificabili. CONCLUSIONI L\u2019applicazione della metodologia WBE pu\uf2 essere considerata uno strumento aggiuntivo ai classici indicatori indiretti del consumo di droghe nella collettivit\ue0 a disposizione delle istituzioni per comprendere meglio il fenomeno delle tossicodipendenze e per attuare azioni di contrasto e politiche di educazione sanitaria pi\uf9 efficaci finalizzate alla prevenzione

TIPIZZAZIONE DEL DNA DI DITTERI CAMPIONATI SU UN CORPO RINVENUTO IN SICILIA

L’entomologia forense, come ormai ampiamente noto, viene utilizzata routinariamente nelle indagini forensi, in particolare in quei casi nei quali i classici dati tanatocronologici (ipostasi, rigidità, temperatura corporea, ecc.) non possono essere d’ausilio per l’identificazione dell’epoca della morte. Gli insetti campionati su resti cadaverici, per potere essere utilizzati a fini forensi, necessitano di una precisa identificazione di specie, dato che ciascuna specie si caratterizza per una differente durata del ciclo vitale. Gli insetti che colonizzano il cadavere, soprattutto nelle prime fasi di colonizzazione, hanno una distribuzione abbastanza uniforme in tutto il mondo, tuttavia è possibile a volte rinvenire delle differenze correlate alla fauna locale. In questo lavoro viene presentato un case report in cui dimostriamo l’utile integrazione tra i dati di entomologia forense e quelli di tassonomia molecolare

Dati istologici essenziali relativi al tessuto osseo per applicazioni forensi

The essential of bone histology for forensic application

Il destino dei microinquinanti negli impianti di depurazione e nei corpi idrici.

\u2022 Monitoraggio di droghe in quattro impianti di depurazione siciliani e in un corpo idrico ricettore. \u2022 Elevata presenza nei reflui influenti a tutti gli impianti monitorati di THC-COOH e BEG, metaboliti rispettivamente della cannabis e della cocaina. \u2022 Fenomeni di degradazione naturale ad opera del biota e/o di accumulo nei sedimenti del corpo idrico ricettore comportano la riduzione delle concentrazione di THC-COOH