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Article: Chicago Tribune Julie Deardorff column: Sewer plants offer a snapshot showing drug use.(Column)
- Article from:
- Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL)
- Article date:
- September 30, 2007
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Chicago Tribune. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Julie Deardorff
Sep. 30--A city's sewer plant doesn't just treat human waste; it also can tip off law enforcement officials about a local drug problem.
Using just a teaspoon of wastewater, Oregon State University researchers recently measured levels of everything from caffeine, cotinine (a break-down product of nicotine from cigarette smoke) and prescription drugs to methamphetamines, cocaine and Ecstasy. The community urinalysis wouldn't flush out single users but could eventually help officials track the spread of drugs, the researchers said.
When drugs break down in the body, their byproducts end up in excrement and urine. That ...