This video features research conducted through the Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) with funding provided by Pennsylvania Sea Grant. The research was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, monitoring wastewater to detect pharmaceuticals, as an indicator of community health. It is one of 8 videos produced in 2024 featuring Pennsylvania Sea Grant funded research, including “Detecting COVID-19 in Wastewater,” also conducted by Penn State, which focuses on detecting COVID-19 and other pathogens in wastewater.
Wastewater-based epidemiology is increasingly being viewed as a powerful tool for providing information about the health of a community because each person in a treatment plant’s service area inevitably contributes to the wastewater. Here, researchers from the Pennsylvania State University partnered with two wastewater treatment plants in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania – Derry Municipal Water Authority (WWTP A) and a facility with the PA Department of Corrections (WWTP B) to monitor the weekly occurrence of: severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2); two pain medications (acetaminophen and naproxen), one cough suppressant (dextromethorphan); four antibiotics (ampicillin, ofloxacin, sulfamethoxazole, and trimethoprim); two therapeutic agents (remdesivir and dexamethasone); hydroxychloroquine; and four anti-anxiety medications (alprazolam, buspirone, citalopram, and clomipramine).
This project provided data that could serve as human physical health indicators over the course of the pandemic, including SARS-CoV-2.
