Wastewater is a complex matrix containing a wide range of chemical and biological markers of human activity. Relating concentrations of these “waste” materials in wastewater influent streams to population-scale use, consumption, or rates of exposure, can provide important qualitative or quantitative information on the activity of inhabitants within a given wastewater catchment. Many publications in this field of study have focussed on the usage of pharmaceuticals, illicit drugs, tobacco and alcohol. However, many other potential applications are emerging which can contribute useful knowledge on human health, exposure to industrial chemicals, infectious diseases or pathogens and antibiotic resistance. This review summarises the established wastewater based epidemiology (WBE) biomarkers, and presents a critical review of the current capabilities of WBE. We further discuss possible future strategies and challenges anticipated in analysing wastewater to measure chemical markers of population health as well as biological markers of microbial exposure and disease.

废水是一种复杂的基质，包含多种人类活动的化学和生物标记。将这些“废物”物质在废水流入流中的浓度与人口规模的使用，消耗或暴露率相关联，可以提供有关给定废水流域内居民活动的重要定性或定量信息。该研究领域的许多出版物都集中在药物，非法药物，烟草和酒精的使用上。但是，许多其他潜在的应用正在涌现，它们可以为人类健康，工业化学物质的暴露提供有用的知识。，传染病或病原体和抗生素耐药性。这篇综述总结了已建立的基于废水的流行病学（WBE）生物标志物，并对WBE当前的能力进行了严格的评论。我们将进一步讨论在分析废水以测量人口健康的化学标志物以及微生物暴露和疾病的生物标志物时预期的未来策略和挑战。