Why Alberta researchers are monitoring wastewater for opioids, lethal drugs

A Calgary researcher is flagging the importance of monitoring Alberta's wastewater for the presence of opioids and other lethal drugs, saying it could save lives.

A Calgary researcher is flagging the importance of monitoring Alberta's wastewater for the presence of opioids and other lethal drugs, saying it could save lives.

Dr. Monty Ghosh has been monitoring wastewater for a research study and says the use of carfentanyl, a synthetic opioid used in veterinary medicine to tranquilize large animals, rose dramatically in June when drug overdoses in the province spiked.

"There was four times the amount of carfentanyl present in wastewater in June compared to earlier in the year," said Gosh, an addictions specialist and assistant professor at the University of Calgary and University of Alberta.

"I don’t think people were aware of what was in the drug supply."

Ghosh is hoping in the future, the results of the wastewater monitoring could be of assistance for emergency responders, health care providers and government officials.

"If there was a formal way to share the information it could be used as an early warning to provide more information about what is going on with the level of toxicity of the drug supply and possibly prevent deaths," he said.

Ghosh is one of the principal investigators on the study, working with Advancing Canadian Water Assets (ACWA), the same facility that was part of the team monitoring wastewater in Alberta for SARS-CoV-2 during the pandemic.