Estimating per capita use and release of chemicals by wastewater analysis (2016–2020)
Abstract:
This proposed project aims to assess human use and exposure to chemicals including drugs, pharmaceuticals,
lifestyle chemicals, and unintentional exposure to environmental pollutants in the Australian population through
the systematic collection and analysis of wastewater. Its unique outcome includes the estimate of per-capita
human exposure to chemicals and the release of thereof as it combines temporal sampling from key sewage
treatment plants with comprehensive nationwide sampling over the week of the 2016 Census day. The outcomes
will provide accurate and objective per-capita based consumption and release estimates for a wide range of
chemicals that will provide a baseline against which to measure changes in our chemosphere