Hacks & ChopsProfessor of Chemistry Daniel Burgard is a co-author of a new paper in the journal Nature Water, titled “Wastewater-based monitoring could help guide responses to the USA opioid epidemic.” In the paper, Burgard and his co-authors argue that the U.S. should build on the successful use of wastewater monitoring by public health officials to track outbreaks of COVID-19 to monitor opioid use. "A national wastewater surveillance system to monitor opioids and other emerging illicit drugs such as benzodiazepines could help public health and safety officials anticipate new drug outbreaks and respond more quickly," the authors say.
