Credit: Australia's Alcohol and Drug Foundation. https://adf.org.au/
Wastewater monitoring has revealed a 75% increase in detections of the synthetic stimulant pentylone across Australia, according to researchers at the University of South Australia.
Pentylone (street name bath salts) is a highly potent and unpredictable synthetic cathinone, producing similar effects to stimulants such as methamphetamine or MDMA. Pentylone—and other similar novel psychoactive substances (NPS)—can be swallowed, snorted or injected with effects appearing within 15 to 45 minutes and lasting from 2 to 4 hours. These stronger effects that wear off faster often lead to more frequent use—thus increasing overall negative risks and toxicity. The drugs are mostly white or brown powders, but can also be in crystalline form, capsules or tablets. Pentylone has most often been found in brick-shaped “Nike tick” MDMA pills.
In the new study, published in Science of the Total Environment, researchers analyzed wastewater from across Australia to determine what type of NPS were being used during a single year timespan with collection dates from February 2022 through February 2023. The study was unique in that the sample intentionally avoided special events and holiday periods to determine “more typical” trends across the year.
Of the 59 different NPS Emma Jaunay and her team looked for, they found 20 in the wastewater samples. While some were found only occasionally across Australia, others were detected at every site for multiple collections—including pentylone.
“Specifically, we detected an increase of pentylone across Australia, with frequencies rising from 25% in April 2022 to 100% across all states and territories by December that same year,” said Jaunay, study author and University of South Australia researcher.
The researchers say pentylone displaced eutylone in 2022/2023, highlighting the constantly evolving nature of NPS and how quickly drug preferences change.
Still, eutylone and phenibut—two synthetic cathinones similar to pentylone—were also commonly detected in the wastewater samples, according to the study results.
“Changes to drug levels present in wastewater can provide early signals about drug use and raise awareness of new drugs with harm potential,” said Jaunay. “Routine monitoring provides valuable insights about illicit drugs and their ‘legal’ counterparts before overdoses and fatalities occur.”