I always wondered if this was possible. Now we know. Though, 1 teaspoon doesnt really seem like enough. Is it that thoroughly mixed, the waste water from an entire city?

Makes you wonder what else about our lives is being tracked.

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/08/22/tech-drugs.html
Wastewater sampling provides community drug test
Last Updated: Wednesday, August 22, 2007 | 9:03 AM ET

A teaspoon of wastewater from a city’s sewage treatment plant can be used to determine drug use in an entire community, say U.S. researchers.

The test wouldn’t be used to finger any single person as a drug user. But it would help law enforcement and other agencies track the spread of dangerous drugs, like methamphetamines, researchers say.

‘It’s a community urinalysis.’

Hey, this is an interesting idea. It’s not any kid of civil liberties issue because it’s the drug use of whole cities and not individuals.

Although you’d think the police would already be aware of a sudden increase in a certain type of drug use in an area.

Renquist - 22 August 2007 10:51 PM

Although you’d think the police would already be aware of a sudden increase in a certain type of drug use in an area.

It would help give confirmation, at least.

Of course, now you might end up with people dumping all sorts of weird chemicals into the water, so that the tests show that the entire population of the city consists of menopausal women strung out on meth.

Accipiter - 22 August 2007 10:58 PM

Renquist - 22 August 2007 10:51 PM

Although you’d think the police would already be aware of a sudden increase in a certain type of drug use in an area.

It would help give confirmation, at least.

I suppose so.

Although I always figured police would follow their policeman’s instinct and gut feeling. Like they do on the telly.

One good drug bust where the druggies get to flush all their stuff down the toilet can throw this off considerably.

Still, interesting, a friend of mine once was fairly certain that they were testing urine in real-time at airports at the urinals. He wasn’t the brightest bulb, but he refused to ever use the toilet at an airport. I would hate to be on a plane with him

Transfrmr - 23 August 2007 12:46 AM

One good drug bust where the druggies get to flush all their stuff down the toilet can throw this off considerably.

Still, interesting, a friend of mine once was fairly certain that they were testing urine in real-time at airports at the urinals. He wasn’t the brightest bulb, but he refused to ever use the toilet at an airport. I would hate to be on a plane with him

Here in Holland, if they expect you arrived at the airport with cocaine balls in your stomach, they put you on a glass toilet bowl and examine what comes out.

LaMa - 23 August 2007 11:41 AM

Transfrmr - 23 August 2007 12:46 AM

One good drug bust where the druggies get to flush all their stuff down the toilet can throw this off considerably.

Still, interesting, a friend of mine once was fairly certain that they were testing urine in real-time at airports at the urinals. He wasn’t the brightest bulb, but he refused to ever use the toilet at an airport. I would hate to be on a plane with him

Here in Holland, if they expect you arrived at the airport with cocaine balls in your stomach, they put you on a glass toilet bowl and examine what comes out.

Same here with Canadian customs. They have a special room and they’ll keep you there. The toilet just drops into a little bucket-type thing and they’ll wait until you’ve “expelled” whatever they think you might have. They have a portable X-rax too so they can just take a look and see first.

Transfrmr - 23 August 2007 12:15 PM

LaMa - 23 August 2007 11:41 AM

Transfrmr - 23 August 2007 12:46 AM

One good drug bust where the druggies get to flush all their stuff down the toilet can throw this off considerably.

Still, interesting, a friend of mine once was fairly certain that they were testing urine in real-time at airports at the urinals. He wasn’t the brightest bulb, but he refused to ever use the toilet at an airport. I would hate to be on a plane with him

Here in Holland, if they expect you arrived at the airport with cocaine balls in your stomach, they put you on a glass toilet bowl and examine what comes out.

Same here with Canadian customs. They have a special room and they’ll keep you there. The toilet just drops into a little bucket-type thing and they’ll wait until you’ve “expelled” whatever they think you might have. They have a portable X-rax too so they can just take a look and see first.

Jeeze this is a torment to even visualize guys!

Since researchers/scientists often examine fecal materials from various wild animals (even fossilized remains of long extinct critters) to get a better picture of their habits and life in general, I don’t see this as too far removed at all.

What I’d like to see though is not just searching for uncontrolled or even physician controlled chemicals, but also some other helpful data that might generate an idea where epidemics spike or have a suggestion of spiking, or other data that might indicate whether or not people in a concentrated area are expelling contaminants that might have been in the atmosphere, natural ground etc. like insecticides, PCBs etc. 

There are many ingredients in waste products that might identify potential problems.

Transfrmr - 23 August 2007 12:15 PM

LaMa - 23 August 2007 11:41 AM

Transfrmr - 23 August 2007 12:46 AM

One good drug bust where the druggies get to flush all their stuff down the toilet can throw this off considerably.

Still, interesting, a friend of mine once was fairly certain that they were testing urine in real-time at airports at the urinals. He wasn’t the brightest bulb, but he refused to ever use the toilet at an airport. I would hate to be on a plane with him

Here in Holland, if they expect you arrived at the airport with cocaine balls in your stomach, they put you on a glass toilet bowl and examine what comes out.

Same here with Canadian customs. They have a special room and they’ll keep you there. The toilet just drops into a little bucket-type thing and they’ll wait until you’ve “expelled” whatever they think you might have. They have a portable X-rax too so they can just take a look and see first.

I think here they just slip on the marigolds, lube them up, and get a spoon here.

hulitoons - 23 August 2007 01:52 PM

What I’d like to see though is not just searching for uncontrolled or even physician controlled chemicals, but also some other helpful data that might generate an idea where epidemics spike or have a suggestion of spiking, or other data that might indicate whether or not people in a concentrated area are expelling contaminants that might have been in the atmosphere, natural ground etc. like insecticides, PCBs etc. 

There are many ingredients in waste products that might identify potential problems.

In many places, they actually do routinely test the waste water for things such as excessive amounts of various potentially harmful chemicals (insecticides and the like).  They also do frequently test for some of the more common and dangerous disease-causing agents, although testing for bacteria or viruses is often a whole lot more complicated than testing for things such as excessive nitrates.