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Drugs

Projects

Health
Emerging contaminants
Sewage surveillance of drug use

Drug use is a recognised societal problem. It is damaging to public health and has negative (undermining) consequences for public security and the environment. An effective drug policy needs to be founded on reliable drug-use and -dealing…

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Health
Emerging contaminants
Drugs production waste in groundwater: field research and action perspectives

Little is still known about the impact of the long-term or extensive discharge of chemical waste from the production of synthetic drugs (SYNDRU) on groundwater quality and therefore…

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Health
Emerging contaminants
Survey of drug waste emission pathways and relevance for the drinking water sector

The Netherlands has a thriving illegal industry for the production of synthetic drugs such as amphetamine (speed), MDMA (XTC) and “designer drugs”. It releases all kinds of waste…

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Enabling technologies
New materials and technologies
EUSEME: Europe-wide Sewage analysis to Monitor Emerging drug problems

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is now an established approach in monitoring the consumption of a selection of illicit drugs. However, WBE can also become a valuable source of information…

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Health
Emerging contaminants
WATCH

Request for services for a waste water analysis report on the stimulant illicit drug markets in the EU. Objectives Conduct a wastewater monitoring exercise utilising a standardized protocol approved by the Commission and the EMCDDA to describe…

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Experts

Audrey Biesmans
Technician
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Audrey Biesmans

Technician

Audrey Biesmans began working as a chemical analyst in the Laboratory for Materials Research and Chemical Analysis (LMC) in April 2021. She works primarily with liquid chromatography coupled with mass…

030-6069615

audrey.biesmans@kwrwater.nl

06-46916047

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Frederic Béen PhD
Senior scientific researcher
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Frederic Béen PhD

Senior scientific researcher

Frederic Béen works as a researcher in the Chemical Water Quality and Health team. His research activities focus on the implementation of analytical and sampling techniques to monitor emerging contaminants…

030-6069748

frederic.been@kwrwater.nl

06-11365219

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Erik Emke BSc
Scientific researcher
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Erik Emke BSc

Scientific researcher

Erik Emke is a researcher on the Chemical Water Quality and Health team. Erik has 25 years of experience in the research, development and implementation of new analytical techniques for…

030-6069691

Erik.Emke@kwrwater.nl

06-54295592

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Thomas ter Laak PhD
Senior scientific researcher
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Thomas ter Laak PhD

Senior scientific researcher

Thomas ter Laak works as a senior researcher in Chemical Water Quality on the sources, monitoring, behaviour, presence, as well as modelling of (new) micropollutants in the water cycle. Over…

030-6069657

Thomas.ter.Laak@kwrwater.nl

06-25243017

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News

News

15 years’ research into drugs in sewage water

20 March 2024 — Over the 2010-2023 period, KWR researched drug use in the cities of Amsterdam, Utrecht, Leeuwarden and the Eindhoven…

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News

Designer drugs dodge the law

30 September 2021 — Every year tens of new substances appear on the market in Europe; substances that actually have stimulating, psychotropic…

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News

SETAC honours Pim de Voogt with Emeritus Membership

04 December 2020 — The Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) has accorded Pim de Voogt its Emeritus Membership award. This…

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Column

A moral compass: using sewage water to study drugs use

03 July 2020 — More than half of the Dutch population believe that privacy concessions are an option in the fight against…

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News

EUSEME: Drugs in sewage during Dutch lockdown

17 June 2020 — In the week after the announcement of the ‘intelligent’ lockdown in the Netherlands, KWR tested levels of illegal…

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News

Wastewater-based epidemiology: Wastewater reflection on society

16 June 2020 — Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) uses sewage as a source of information about citizens’ health and lifestyle. Analysis of sewage…

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News

First methamphetamine waste discharge measured in Eindhoven

12 March 2020 — The consumption of cocaine and MDMA (XTC) in the Netherlands has been the highest in Europe for a…

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News

Monitoring emerging drug problems in Europe

04 December 2019 — The partners of the EUSEME project came together on 19 and 20 November for the kick-off meetings. Researchers…

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News

Wastewater analysis reveals trends in international drug use

23 October 2019 — The results of seven years’ wastewater analysis have been compiled in an article published in the prestigious journal…

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News

2018 figures on drugs in European cities’ wastewater

14 March 2019 — The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) today published the results of drug monitoring of…

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News

KWR researchers discover cause of wastewater treatment malfunction

22 October 2018 — The cause of malfunctions in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) or industrial wastewater treatment plants (IWWTs) is often difficult…

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Blog

EMCON 2018 Conference on emerging contaminants

05 July 2018 — The 6th International Conference on Emerging Contaminants was held in Oslo, Norway, from 25 to 28 June, 2018.…

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News

Methamphetamine in Ermelo sewage remarkable for the Netherlands

29 May 2018 — Commissioned by the municipal council of the town of Ermelo, KWR researched the presence of narcotics in the…

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News

Ana Causanilles earns doctorate in wastewater epidemiology

25 May 2018 — On Thursday, 24 May, former KWR staff member Ana Causanilles successfully defended her thesis, titled ‘Wastewater-based epidemiology, an…

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Column

Wastewater epidemiology has grown up

24 May 2018 — In ten years wastewater epidemiology has developed into a mature field of knowledge which provides objective data on…

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News

Netherlands number 1 user of XTC in Europe

07 March 2018 — The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) today (11:00 CET) published the results of the…

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News

Sewer water analysis shows: amateur athletes use of ‘fat burner’ DNP

24 January 2018 — In the study entitled ‘Wastewater-based tracing of doping use by the general population and amateur athletes’, KWR researchers…

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Water Sector

Second Willem Koerselman Award for Emke and De Voogt

11 April 2017 — Erik Emke and Pim de Voogt have won the 2016 Willem Koerselman Award for the article, ‘Spatial differences…

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News

New dumps and increase in the use of cocaine and cannabis

13 December 2016 — The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) today published the result of drug monitoring in…

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News

Sewage research becomes policy instrument for towns

15 June 2016 — On a commission from eight towns in the Province of Utrecht, KWR has analysed the presence of narcotic…

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Water Sector

Dutch cities once again in the top 5 for drugs use

31 May 2016 — In 2015, for the fifth year in a row, a European study into drugs in sewer water was…

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Subjects

Health

Emerging contaminants

Emerging contaminants are a possible threat to the public health and environment. KWR develops smarter,…

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Our expertises

Chemical water quality

Drugs

Sewage surveillance of drug use

Drugs production waste in groundwater: field research and action perspectives

Survey of drug waste emission pathways and relevance for the drinking water sector

EUSEME: Europe-wide Sewage analysis to Monitor Emerging drug problems

WATCH

15 years’ research into drugs in sewage water

Designer drugs dodge the law

SETAC honours Pim de Voogt with Emeritus Membership

A moral compass: using sewage water to study drugs use

EUSEME: Drugs in sewage during Dutch lockdown

Wastewater-based epidemiology: Wastewater reflection on society

First methamphetamine waste discharge measured in Eindhoven

Monitoring emerging drug problems in Europe

Wastewater analysis reveals trends in international drug use

2018 figures on drugs in European cities’ wastewater

KWR researchers discover cause of wastewater treatment malfunction

EMCON 2018 Conference on emerging contaminants

Methamphetamine in Ermelo sewage remarkable for the Netherlands

Ana Causanilles earns doctorate in wastewater epidemiology

Wastewater epidemiology has grown up

Netherlands number 1 user of XTC in Europe

Sewer water analysis shows: amateur athletes use of ‘fat burner’ DNP

Second Willem Koerselman Award for Emke and De Voogt

New dumps and increase in the use of cocaine and cannabis

Sewage research becomes policy instrument for towns

Dutch cities once again in the top 5 for drugs use

Emerging contaminants