Investigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on drug consumption measured by wastewater-based epidemiology

To confront the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries have enforced either full or partial lockdowns to control outbreaks. These restrictions have an clearly impact on people’s lifestyles and behaviours, which could translate into changes in consumption of multiple substances. These changes are expected to alter the compositions of wastewater and the loads of biomarkers evaluated by WBE. It is crucial to evaluate the trend of these health-related substances use during the COVID-19 period for discovering the potential substances abuse. The goal of this research is to use WBE techniques to investigate and evaluate the impact of the pandemic on the consumption of alcohol and drugs that have adverse effects on public health, such as alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs, and pharmaceuticals used to treat mental disorders, such as antidepressants.

Please note this is a PhD student confirmation milestone review presentation.