Chapter 2 - Moving beyond wastewater analysis toward epidemiology

Abstract

Wastewater analysis (WWA) has firmly established itself as a reliable, objective science to determine the excretion of substances by a catchment population. The analytical challenges have largely been met for most common and emerging drugs, as well as pharmaceuticals. However, it does show the type of compounds being used and where purely measuring excreted amounts has limited value. Wastewater-based epidemiology has emerged by considering the differing extent of metabolism and excretion of various compounds. This submission will provide an overview of the steps involved in WBE and the considerations of the value added at each stage, as well as the uncertainties introduced as a consequence. Illicit drugs and pharmaceuticals with abuse potential will be included to demonstrate how far the science has advanced in the past decade, and a best-practice approach will be outlined.