Despite many benefits associated with the use of chemicals, it has been highlighted that their accelerated production and use are increasingly affecting environmental health. Failure to manage the use and release of chemicals in Australia can potentially have enormous, negative consequences on the economy, commercially, environmentally, and socially. Effective tools to understand spatiotemporal trends and factors that drive chemical exposure are urgently needed.
The core of this Laureate Project is to develop, establish, and refine various other projects and programs that measure exposure to different chemicals nationwide, including the Census wastewater analysis program, PBS, Cohort analysis programs, and non-target analysis. This encompasses all stages of a project, from how to collect samples, designing samplers, and the location and frequency of sampling to analysing, archiving, and utilising the information drawn from those samples. Having an integrated, streamlined process across a range of different projects will provide a better understanding of chemical and hazard exposure on a population-wide scale and enable researchers to better link their results to different drivers including socioeconomic factors, behaviour, and age. Basically, to identify emerging chemicals you need to have a systematic sampling program and archive process that allows you to look back in time to measure this ‘emergence’. This will ultimately allow appropriate interventions and regulations to be made by governments and policymakers to better protect the environment and the human population from these emerging chemicals of concern and other hazards.
Outcomes
This fellowship began during the COVID-19 epidemic and immediately provided key information and outcomes. We were able to assess the effects of COVID-19, and specifically the lockdowns on population exposure, which led to new analytical methods for exposure assessment. Additionally, this project enabled the spatiotemporal analysis of the existing data on the pesticide concentrations on the Great Barrier Reef. We were also able to analyse the spatiotemporal trends of a wide range of chemical pollutants in archived air samples collected with passive samplers from across Australia, some of which are up to 10 years old. Finally, this project enabled the analysis of spatiotemporal trends in chemical pollutants and their removal in different wastewater treatment plants covering a wide range of pollutants.
Research Outputs
Suzuki, M., Nilsson, S., Shepherd, C.E., Zammit, I., Suryana, E., Mueller, N., Halliday, G., Wang, X., Symeonides, C., Dunlop, S. and Mueller, J.F., 2025. Number of Carbons Is a Critical Parameter for Accumulation of Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in the Human Brain. Environmental Science & Technology.
Keane, C.A., Li, J., Li, J., Mueller, J.F., O'Brien, J.W. and Verhagen, R., 2025. High levels of antibiotics released by a pharmaceutical manufacturer negatively impacted wastewater treatment plant performance. Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology.
Que, D.E., Wang, X., Nilsson, S., Zammit, I., Muir, D.C., Rauert, C., Toms, L.M.L., Prasad, P., Shiels, R.G., Eaglesham, G. and Hobson, P., 2024. Trends of Benzotriazoles and Benzothiazoles in Australian Pooled Urine Samples from 2012 to 2023. Environmental Science & Technology, 58(45), pp.19960-19969.
Bade, R., Nadarajan, D., Driver, E.M., Halden, R.U., Gerber, C., Krotulski, A., Hall, W. and Mueller, J.F., 2024. Wastewater-based monitoring of the nitazene analogues: First detection of protonitazene in wastewater. Science of The Total Environment, 920, p.170781.
Jaunay, E.L., Bade, R., Paxton, K.R., Nadarajan, D., Barry, D.C., Zhai, Y., Tscharke, B.J., O'Brien, J.W., Mueller, J., White, J.M. and Simpson, B.S., 2024. Monitoring the use of novel psychoactive substances in Australia by wastewater-based epidemiology. Science of the total environment, 919, p.170473.
Tscharke, B., Livingston, M., O’Brien, J.W., Bade, R., Thomas, K.V., Mueller, J.F., Hall, W., Simpson, B.S., Jaunay, E., Gerber, C. and White, J.M., 2024. Seven-years of alcohol consumption in Australia by wastewater analysis: Exploring patterns by remoteness and socioeconomic factors. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 259, p.111317.
Bade, R., Nadarajan, D., Driver, E.M., Halden, R.U., Gerber, C., Krotulski, A., Hall, W. and Mueller, J.F., 2024. Wastewater-based monitoring of the nitazene analogues: First detection of protonitazene in wastewater. Science of The Total Environment, 920, p.170781.
Wang, Z., Zheng, Q., O'Brien, J.W., Tscharke, B.J., Chan, G., Thomas, K.V., Mueller, J.F. and Thai, P.K., 2024. Analysis of wastewater from 2013 to 2021 detected a recent increase in nicotine use in Queensland, Australia. Water Research, 250, p.121040.
Wang, Z., Zheng, Q., Tscharke, B.J., Li, J., O'Brien, J.W., Patterson, B., Zhao, Z., Thomas, K.V., Mueller, J.F. and Thai, P.K., 2024. High throughput and sensitive quantitation of tobacco-specific alkaloids and nitrosamines in wastewater. Talanta, 277, p.126401.
Bade, R., van Herwerden, D., Rousis, N., Adhikari, S., Allen, D., Baduel, C., Bijlsma, L., Boogaerts, T., Burgard, D., Chappell, A. and Driver, E.M., 2024. Workflow to facilitate the detection of new psychoactive substances and drugs of abuse in influent urban wastewater. Journal of hazardous materials, 469, p.133955.
Nadarajan, D., O'Brien, J., Cresswell, S., Kele, B., Mueller, J. and Bade, R., 2024. Application of design of experiment for quantification of 71 new psychoactive substances in influent wastewater. Analytica Chimica Acta, 1321, p.343036.
Chen, S., Bade, R., Tscharke, B., Hall, W., Thai, P., He, C., Ahmed, F., Zheng, Q., Choi, P.M., O’Brien, J.W. and Mueller, J.F., 2024. Assessing daily patterns in stimulant use during the COVID-19 pandemic in Melbourne, Australia using wastewater analysis. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 476, p.135130.
Li, Y., Key, T.A., Vo, P.H., Porman, S., Thapalia, A., McDonough, J.T., Fiorenza, S., Barnes, C.M., Mueller, J.F. and Thai, P.K., 2024. Distribution and release of PFAS from AFFF-impacted asphalt: How does it compare to concrete?. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 466, p.133627.
Ghorbani Gorji, S., Gómez Ramos, M.J., Dewapriya, P., Schulze, B., Mackie, R., Nguyen, T.M.H., Higgins, C.P., Bowles, K., Mueller, J.F., Thomas, K.V. and Kaserzon, S.L., 2024. New PFASs Identified in AFFF impacted groundwater by passive sampling and nontarget analysis. Environmental Science & Technology, 58(3), pp.1690-1699.
Taucare, G., Chan, G., Nilsson, S., Toms, L.M.L., Zhang, X., Mueller, J.F. and Jolliet, O., 2024. Temporal trends of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances concentrations: Insights from Australian human biomonitoring 2002–2021 and the US NHANES programs 2003–2018. Environmental Research, 262, p.119777.
Chen, S., Bade, R., Tscharke, B., Hall, W., Livingston, M., Thai, P., He, C., Zheng, Q., Crosbie, N. and Mueller, J., 2023. Assessing the effects of COVID-19 restrictions on alcohol consumption in Melbourne, Australia using high-resolution wastewater sampling. Science of the Total Environment, 893, p.164846.
Tang, C., Ramos, M.J.G., Heffernan, A., Kaserzon, S., Rauert, C., Lin, C.Y., Mueller, J.F. and Wang, X., 2023. Evaluation and identification of chemical migrants leached from baby food pouch packaging. Chemosphere, 340, p.139758.
Thai, P.K., Zheng, Q., Phung, D., Gartner, C., Hall, W., Ren, Y., Mueller, J.F. and Thomas, K.V., 2023. The use of asthma and allergy medicines is associated with exposure to smoking. Nature Water, 1(5), pp.443-450.
Bade, R., Rousis, N., Adhikari, S., Baduel, C., Bijlsma, L., Bizani, E., Boogaerts, T., Burgard, D.A., Castiglioni, S., Chappell, A. and Covaci, A., 2023. Three years of wastewater surveillance for new psychoactive substances from 16 countries. Water Research X, 19, p.100179.
Bade, R., Eaglesham, G., Shimko, K.M. and Mueller, J., 2023. Quantification of new psychoactive substances in Australian wastewater utilising direct injection liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. Talanta, 251, p.123767.
Wu, J., Zhang, S., Chen, Y., Zhao, J., Prosun, T., O’Brien, J.W., Mueller, J.F., Tscharke, B.J., Coin, L.J., Luby, S.P. and Hai, F.I., 2023. Associations between Wastewater Microbiome and Population Smoking Rate Identified Using Wastewater-Based Epidemiology. Environment & Health, 1(6), pp.394-404.
Rousis, N., Bade, R., Romero-Sánchez, I., Mueller, J.F., Thomaidis, N.S., Thomas, K.V. and Gracia-Lor, E., 2023. Festivals following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions: prevalence of new psychoactive substances and illicit drugs. Environment international, 178, p.108075.
Li, J., Hosegood, I., Powell, D., Tscharke, B., Lawler, J., Thomas, K.V. and Mueller, J.F., 2023. A global aircraft-based wastewater genomic surveillance network for early warning of future pandemics. The Lancet Global Health, 11(5), pp.e791-e795.
Kulandaivelu, J., Chen, Y., Choi, P.M., Li, X., Rebosura Jr, M., Song, Y., Yuan, Z., Mueller, J.F. and Jiang, G., 2023. Fate of micropollutants in a lab-scale urban wastewater system: Impact of iron-rich drinking water treatment sludge. Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances, 12, p.100360.
Gallen, C., Bignert, A., Taucare, G., O'Brien, J., Braeunig, J., Reeks, T., Thompson, J. and Mueller, J.F., 2022. Temporal trends of perfluoroalkyl substances in an Australian wastewater treatment plant: A ten-year retrospective investigation. Science of The Total Environment, 804, p.150211.
Jiang, G., Wu, J., Weidhaas, J., Li, X., Chen, Y., Mueller, J., Li, J., Kumar, M., Zhou, X., Arora, S. and Haramoto, E., 2022. Artificial neural network-based estimation of COVID-19 case numbers and effective reproduction rate using wastewater-based epidemiology. Water research, 218, p.118451.
Li, Y., Thompson, J., Wang, Z., Bräunig, J., Zheng, Q., Thai, P.K., Mueller, J.F. and Yuan, Z., 2022. Transformation and fate of pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances during aerobic digestion of anaerobically digested sludge. Water Research, 219, p.118568.
Taucare, G., Bignert, A., Kaserzon, S., Thai, P., Mann, R.M., Gallen, C. and Mueller, J., 2022. Detecting long temporal trends of photosystem II herbicides (PSII) in the Great Barrier Reef lagoon. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 177, p.113490.
O'Brien, J.W., Tscharke, B.J., Bade, R., Chan, G., Gerber, C., Mueller, J.F., Thomas, K.V. and Hall, W.D., 2022. A wastewater‐based assessment of the impact of a minimum unit price (MUP) on population alcohol consumption in the Northern Territory, Australia. Addiction, 117(1), pp.243-249.
Álvarez-Ruiz, R., Hawker, D.W., Mueller, J.F., Gallen, M., Kaserzon, S., Picó, Y. and McLachlan, M.S., 2021. Postflood monitoring in a subtropical estuary and Benchmarking with PFASs allows measurement of chemical persistence on the scale of months. Environmental Science & Technology, 55(21), pp.14607-14616.
Bade, R., Tscharke, B.J., O’Brien, J.W., Magsarjav, S., Humphries, M., Ghetia, M., Thomas, K.V., Mueller, J.F., White, J.M. and Gerber, C., 2021. Impact of COVID-19 controls on the use of illicit drugs and alcohol in Australia. Environmental Science & Technology Letters, 8(9), pp.799-804.
Ahmed, F., Tscharke, B., O'Brien, J.W., Zheng, Q., Thompson, J., Mueller, J.F. and Thomas, K.V., 2021. Wastewater-based prevalence trends of gout in an Australian community over a period of 8 years. Science of the Total Environment, 759, p.143460.
He, C., Li, J., Jiang, G., Chen, S., Niel, C., Yuan, Z., Mueller, J.F. and Thai, P., 2021. Transformation of phthalates and their metabolites in wastewater under different sewer conditions. Water Research, 190, p.116754.
Li, J., Gao, J., Zheng, Q., Thai, P.K., Duan, H., Mueller, J.F., Yuan, Z. and Jiang, G., 2021. Effects of pH, temperature, suspended solids, and biological activity on transformation of illicit drug and pharmaceutical biomarkers in sewers. Environmental Science & Technology, 55(13), pp.8771-8782.
Boogaerts, T., Ahmed, F., Choi, P.M., Tscharke, B., O'Brien, J., De Loof, H., Gao, J., Thai, P., Thomas, K., Mueller, J.F. and Hall, W., 2021. Current and future perspectives for wastewater-based epidemiology as a monitoring tool for pharmaceutical use. Science of the Total Environment, 789, p.148047.
