BACKGROUND Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) provides complementary information to traditional self-report methods for estimating substance use within a population. WBE was applied to estimate the consumption of alcohol in an Australian rural city (population estimated 100,000) over 6 years. METHODS A total of 352 wastewater samples were analysed from a wastewater treatment plant located in South-East Queensland, Australia, from 2012 to 2017. The concentration of an alcohol biomarker, ethyl sulphate, was quantified by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry and used to estimate per-capita consumption. The WBE results were compared with alcohol consumption estimates based on national taxation data and self-reported national survey data in Australia. RESULTS Average daily alcohol consumption estimated by WBE was between 19 and 30 mL/person/day for the population aged 15 years and older during the six-year period. Alcohol consumption decreased 4 % per annum on average over the study period. Our data showed higher rates of consumption on weekends and public holidays when compared to consumption between Monday and Thursday. The comparative trend of WBE data was consistent with the national alcohol survey and taxation statistics on alcoholic beverages over the same period. CONCLUSIONS A clear decline in alcohol consumption in the catchment was observed during the sampling period, which reflected similar changes in consumption from taxation statistics and self-report survey data. Expected variations in weekly consumption and public holidays were also identified. This study demonstrates the potential of WBE for long-term monitoring of alcohol consumption in evaluating the effectiveness of local and national alcohol policies and prevention programs.

中文翻译：

---

衡量长期酒精消费趋势的新方法：基于废水的流行病学在澳大利亚区域性城市中的应用。

背景技术基于废水的流行病学（WBE）为传统的自我报告方法提供补充信息，以估计人群中的物质使用情况。WBE被用于估算6年内澳大利亚农村城市（人口估计为100,000）的酒精消费量。方法2012年至2017年，分析了澳大利亚昆士兰东南部某废水处理厂的352个废水样品。采用液相色谱串联质谱法对酒精生物标志物硫酸乙酯的浓度进行了定量分析，并用于估算人均消费。根据澳大利亚的国家税收数据和自我报告的国家调查数据，将WBE结果与酒精消费估算值进行了比较。结果由WBE估计，在6年期间内，年龄在15岁以上的人口的平均每日酒精摄入量在19至30 mL /人/天之间。在研究期间，酒精消费量每年平均减少4％。我们的数据显示，与周一至周四的消费相比，周末和公共假日的消费率更高。WBE数据的比较趋势与同期全国酒精饮料的酒精调查和税收统计一致。结论在抽样期间，流域内的酒精消费量明显下降，这反映了税收统计和自我报告调查数据显示的酒精消费量的类似变化。还确定了每周消费量和公共假日的预期变化。