Estimating Alcohol Consumption by Wastewater-Based Epidemiology: An Assessment of the Correction Factor for Ethyl Sulfate Using Large-Scale National Monitoring Data

Abstract

The correction factor (CF) of the alcohol biomarker ethyl sulfate (EtS), an important parameter for back-estimating alcohol consumption via wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE), reportedly has a large uncertainty due to the limited size of relevant pharmacokinetic studies. We applied an alternative approach to derive an EtS CF by comparing the sales data with the total load measured by WBE across Australia. We utilized EtS data from the National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program in Australia from 2016 to 2019, that covered more than 50% of the Australian population. National sales data for alcohol were obtained from the Australian Bureau of Statistics from 2016 to 2018the most recent data available. A new CF of 4 × 103 was suggested for EtS, significantly greater than the CFs that have been used previously (3042 or 3320). This new CF was applied to a separate multiple-year set of WBE data for EtS from an Australian town and generated estimates that better match sales data than the previous CFs. The new CF incorporates both the excretion rate and sewer degradation of EtS and hence is likely to improve the future accuracy of alcohol consumption estimates by WBE.

A wastewater‐based assessment of the impact of a minimum unit price (MUP) on population alcohol consumption in the Northern Territory, Australia

“…This meant that there was substantial uncertainty around the estimated reduction in population alcohol consumption in the Northern Territory. We also acknowledge that the excretion rate applied may not reflect all individuals—particularly those considered heavy drinkers [23]. Nonetheless, the study was able to detect an initial substantial impact of the MUP on alcohol consumption.…”

Identification of biomarkers in wastewater-based epidemiology: Main approaches and analytical methods

“…These reviews categorized biomarkers depending a little bit on the authors criterion but in all cases consumption, exposure, health/disease and lifestyle/consumption are main drivers of these classifications. Studies focus on consumption of mostly illicit drugs [ 19 , 23 , [28] , [29] , [30] , [31] , [32] , [33] , [34] , [35] , [36] , [37] , [38] , [39] , [40] , [41] ] but also food [ 42 , 43 ], artificial sweeteners [ 44 , 45 ], alcohol [ [46] , [47] , [48] , [49] , [50] , [51] ], caffeine [ 52 , 53 ], nicotine [ 47 , [51] , [52] , [53] ] and/or tobacco [ [54] , [55] , [56] , [57] , [58] ], new psychoactive substances [ 39 , [59] , [60] , [61] , [62] , [63] ], opioids [ 18 , 64 , 65 ], pharmaceuticals [ 22 , 34 , 53 , [66] , [67] , [68] , [69] , [70] , [71] , [72] ] and personal care products [ 34 ] are the most common. These studies are the most elaborated, as especially in the case of drugs of abuse, work has been ongoing since 2005 and there has been a major effort by many research groups to collaborate many times disinterestedly to systematize the methodology and address the drawbacks.…”

Abgründe der Abwasser‐Analytik

“…Demnach lässt sich Ethylsulfat, ein Abbauprodukt des Alkohols, in der Kanalisation nachweisen und das Ergebnis mit den Verkaufszahlen korrelieren. 2) Aber: Haben die Ethanol-Epidemiologen vielleicht zu tief ins Klo geschaut? Schließlich landen ja gerade beim exzessiven Konsum nicht immer alle Ausscheidungen in der Kanalisation, wie wir aus Untersuchungen in Hamburg wissen.…”