Wastewater data shows 286% increase in ecstasy use during pandemic

Wastewater-based epidemiology revealed a 286% increase in the use of methylenedioxymethamphetamine, also known as ecstasy, in a New England-based rural town during the early months of the pandemic, a researcher said.

Sheree A. Pagsuyoin, PhD, MSc, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, and colleagues collected sewage samples from a wastewater facility twice monthly over a 2-year period from September 2018 to August 2020, to estimate trends in drug use within the community.

According to a society press release about Pagsuyoin’s presentation at the Society for Risk Analysis annual meeting, she and colleagues used wastewater-based epidemiology to analyze for concentrations of 10 priority opioids and stimulants such as morphine, codeine, hydrocodone, methadone, fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine and amphetamine, among others.

According to Pagsuyoin and colleagues, the highest per capita consumption was of cocaine, morphine and amphetamine. In addition, drug consumption was greater during the spring, and the highest per capita consumption of fentanyl was greater than other rural and university settings in the United States.

She noted that the concentrations of drugs like fentanyl rose during the early months of the pandemic, and the greatest increase was seen in the stimulant MDMA.

Wastewater-based epidemiology is a less invasive, cost-efficient way to monitor public health, according to the press release. It allows researchers to detect concentrations of drugs or biomarkers in sewage, which can provide an estimate of community drug use or disease infection rates.

“Our findings reflect the regionwide problem with opioid-related overdoses and increasing stimulant prescription rates,” Pagsuyoin stated.