Presenter: Dr. Ellen Mwenesongole (Associate Professor in Forensic Science, Department of Criminal Justice)

Topic: Detection of Recreational and Therapeutic Drugs in Wastewater

Data on drug use patterns within a community traditionally comes from various sources such as population surveys, emergency medical services and law enforcement activities, drug treatment centers, and medical records. An alternative method for collecting community drug use data is through analysis of wastewater, known as wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE). Drugs that have been consumed and released into the wastewater system can be detected and back-calculated to community consumption.

Key advantages of WBE include the near real-time data that emanates from its application and its ability to track drug usage patterns over days, months, or years. While many WBE studies for recreational and therapeutic drugs have been conducted in Europe and Australasia, comparatively fewer studies have been conducted in the United States and at a much smaller scale. This presentation shares findings from the analysis of wastewater in Birmingham, Alabama for both therapeutic and recreational drugs and how the results can translate into an early public health alert system and law enforcement intelligence tool. Recreational drugs such as methamphetamine and cocaine have been detected alongside acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and naproxen which are found in many prescribed and over-the-counter therapeutic drugs.

Please register no later than October 3rd by email confirming your attendance to haddinforum@uab.edu.

The Haddin Arts & Sciences Forum offers scholarship that is interdisciplinary and translatable to a broad audience, celebrating and elevating the intellectual vibrancy present in the academic atmosphere of the College of Arts and Sciences.