This webinar will explore the use of wastewater analysis for the surveillance of new psychoactive substances.
Wastewater analysis has become a useful tool in the monitoring of new psychoactive substances (NPS), complementary to traditional methods such as surveys, drug seizures and forensic information. It allows community use to be determined, and with ongoing monitoring, consumption trends can be revealed. This presentation will provide a brief introduction to wastewater analysis, look at the complexities associated with the detection of NPS in wastewater, and show some results from national and international sampling campaigns.
About the speaker
Richard Bade is an ARC DECRA Research Fellow within the Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS) at The University of Queensland. He obtained his PhD from the University Jaume I, Castellon, Spain in 2016, which focussed on analytical tools for the investigation of licit and illicit drug residues in water before joining the Population Health Chemistry Group at the University of South Australia from 2017-2021, where his research focussed on the development of quantitative and qualitative methods for the determination of illicit drugs in wastewater. His current research interests are associated with the development of analytical methods for the determination of new psychoactive substances in wastewater, to help provide insights into their use.