Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/07/17/wastewater-based-epidemiology.html
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They will inevitably have the ability (if indeed they don’t already) to send DNA-seeking drones upstream from the sewage center toward the toilet from which a target is transmitting (which is to say, shitting).
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Drug abuse is a community health issue. I’d be for this if they were getting people off drugs before they go too far down the road of addiction. But knowing China they’re putting addicts in forced labor camps or some other evil.
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Sounds like they finally found a use for the Smart Pipe.
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Pharmaceuticals entering the ecosystem through the sewers is a poorly understood form of pollution.
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Plenty of US municipalities perform similar monitoring; but I was surprised that Special K is a large target, seems more a raver niche drug than a target of mass abuse. Maybe it is cheaper there?
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Note to authorities: when I flush, my pee doesn’t go in its own separate container. There’s probably no need for probable cause in China, but aren’t you worried at all about prosecuting the wrong person?
No, you can’t use my bathroom…
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Depending on where it how it is done this would probably more valid than other measures of population drug use. I’ve seen studies from the west that do this.
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This seems to be about monitoring population drug use, not individual drug use. (At least, that is what the article is about.)
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OK. I’ll just be quietly standing at the side of your house for a few minutes. Just ignore me.
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Peeculiar home invasions on the rise!
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But this is still more efficient
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What do you think this is, San Francisco???
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Maybe ketamine use by humans fell. But maybe their horses are just really high-strung now.
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Several EU states use assays of sewage in epidemiological studies to evaluate levels of drug use, but China is unique in linking this data to drug enforcement efforts, rather than public health data-collection.
Silly me, I thought Cory was representing reality.
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For being very afraid of the toilet spies is the reason for the leader of North Korea only traveling with his own toilet.
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I found this article on how the antidepressants that are sometimes found in rivers in the United States can change the behavior of fishes.
Some studies suggest that contraceptives may be creating transgenic fishes.
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China’s not unique in using this data for enforcement:
“Treasurer Scott Morrison earlier confirmed sewage will be tested to find areas of high drug use, which will then be selected as trial sites for testing new welfare recipients.”
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/sewage-data-to-form-part-of-welfare-drug-testing-policy
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