OSU tests Ontario sewage for drugs
Collection part of university study
By Katie Pizza
Argus Observer
Sunday, April 6, 2008 1:29 PM PDT
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| On March 5, the Ontario Department of Public Works submitted a sample of sewage from the Ontario Wastewater Treatment Plant (above) to Oregon State University to participate in a statewide drug-testing survey. The sewage will be analyzed for drugs, such as cocaine, methamphetamines and prescribed drugs sometimes used recreationally, such as Vicodin and OxyContin. |
Ontario - The City of Ontario’s war on drugs has entered a new battlefield — the wastewater treatment plant.
As part of a new program sponsored by Oregon State University, city officials and university professors are on the frontlines to give Oregon cities what amounts to a community urine test to learn which illegal drugs are part of the public body’s chemistry.
Oregon State University Professor Jennifer Field has been in contact with 130 wastewater treatment plants across Oregon, including Ontario’s, looking to use sewage to find out the amount of drugs consumed in a given community.
“The samples were taken on March 5,” Ontario Interim Public Works Director Chuck Mickelson said.
Field decided to investigate Oregon’s sewage after realizing how prevalent the state’s drug problem is.
“I noticed how severely Oregon is effected by methamphetamines,” she said.
According to state reports from 2004, 3 percent of people in Malheur County are abusing or are dependent on drugs. This statistic is equal to the statewide average.
“We have a capacity of about 72 beds,” Melissa Jacoby, of the Malheur County Alcohol and Drug Recovery Center, said. “We normally maintain that. We’re pretty full.”
Field’s study, which is funded through Oregon Health Sciences University’s Medical Research Fund, is also supported by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.
Ontario’s samples, which were taken at several points during the day of March 5 in order to get a more uniform reading, are now housed in a freezer at Oregon State University awaiting testing.
Field uses a device called a liquid chromatograph to separate and ionize the chemicals in the solution to determine what those chemicals are.
The testing, however, only looks for chemicals with a positive ion charge.
“We can look for cocaine and related methamphetamines, opiates and rave drugs,” she said.
Some examples of these opiates are hydrocodone (more commonly recognized by the brand name Vicodin), methadone, morphine and oxycodone (similar to OxyContin), which sometimes make it into the hands of abusers.
However, the OSU facility will not analyze the sewage for negatively charged ions like the ones in marijuana.
“OSU has a history of looking at wastewater contaminates,” Field said.
In research published in 2006, OSU previously examined fluorochemicals, which are used to treat fabrics and are in fast-food containers, collected from a wastewater treatment plant to analyze their effect on the environment.
However, that study was on a much smaller scale than Field’s current undertaking, which includes cities such as Portland.
“Portland has the biggest population,” University of Washington Research Scientist Caleb Banta-Green said.
Banta-Green is assisting Field with her research and is currently planning a similar study in Washington, which will also involve Field.
“I’m just consulting on that part of the work,” he said of Field’s research. “I’m helping to interpret the data.”
Although Portland, with an estimated population of 538,380, is included in the study, Ontario is not the smallest city on the scale.
“A population of several hundred is the lowest,” Field said.
The results of the testing will represent an overview of the city, rather than a specific area. However, Field would not speculate on the property values of a city with a large percentage of drugs in their wastewater.
“When the information comes out, everyone will have their own ability to draw their own conclusions,” she said. “I shouldn’t generalize. It’s pure speculation at this point.”
As for when the information is revealed, Field said it will take some time.
“Since it’s research, it could take months to analyze the data,” she said.
