Latest news with #Biobot
New York Post
16 hours ago
- Health
- New York Post
Sewage lines: Cape Cod summer hotspot testing its waste for cocaine and other drugs to monitor abuse
That's a crap load of partying! A summertime island hotspot off Cape Cod will start testing its sewage for cocaine and other drugs to find out when and how often residents are getting high, officials said. Nantucket health officials want to sniff out when drug use spikes — including seasonally and around holidays — to help folks with recovery outreach in the scenic town, the Nantucket Current reported. Advertisement 'Everyone's got a good idea of what the [drug] situation is, but we have very little direct measurement,' the town's human services director, Jerico Mele, told the outlet. 'When we get away from our gut to getting data, we get a better picture of what's going on.' Nantucket will start testing its sewage for cocaine and other drugs to find out when and how often residents are getting high, officials said. Naya Na – Biobot, a firm that specializes in wastewater epidemiology, will start testing the island's Surfside Wastewater Treatment Facility for drugs — also including fentanyl, opiates, methamphetamine and nicotine — later this month, according to the report. Advertisement The goal is to potentially team up with drug rehab centers and medical providers to help local addicts based on the results, Mele said. 'If we can get an idea of the standard usage of drugs, we can see if interventions and behaviors change the rate of consumption,' Mele said. 'That can give us a scorecard on the efforts and reducing usage.' The data gathering project is Nantucket's, well, number two in the world of sewage: In 2020, it started testing its wastewater for COVID-19 and still does weekly. Nantucket officials said the drug data gathering project will help with recovery outreach. Kevin – Advertisement Officials don't plan to post the new drug testing results publicly but may share them with healthcare partners, they said. It's unclear if the windswept island destination, which has a year-round population of roughly 14,000, currently has a drug use problem. A report from the National Drug Intelligence Center from 2001 named cocaine — specifically crack— as the biggest drug threat for Nantucket and surrounding areas.
The Independent
2 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
US vacation hotspot testing water supply for drugs
Nantucket officials are beginning to test the island's sewage for cocaine, fentanyl, methamphetamine, nicotine, and opiates. The Health Department aims to use this data to understand trends in illegal substance use and assess the effectiveness of prevention and intervention programs. Biobot, a Cambridge-based company, will conduct the drug testing using samples already collected for COVID-19 and other disease monitoring. The initiative seeks to provide a data-driven understanding of local drug usage, moving beyond anecdotal evidence. Test results will be shared with healthcare partners to inform outreach and treatment efforts, though they will not be made public.
The Independent
2 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
Cape Cod summer hotspot testing its sewage for cocaine to find out how hard islanders have been partying
Officials on the New England island of Nantucket will begin testing the island's sewage for cocaine and other drugs. Authorities at the Health Department hope the testing will help them understand trends in residents' use of illegal substances, according to the Nantucket Current. 'First, this is baselining - If we can get an idea of the standard usage of drugs, we can see if interventions and behaviors change the rate of consumption,' the town's human services director, Jerico Mele, told the outlet. 'That can give us a scorecard on the efforts and reducing usage. With opiate data, we can confirm our expectations about usage going up around certain times of year, like holidays, or if there are time periods when drug use is heavy. 'We can then communicate to treatment centers to reach out to patients and increase outreach. It's a tool for communicating public safety, to be aware and be expecting.' Town officials could also use data from the tests to approach outreach and intervention programs led by prevention organizations and medical providers. Leaders are simultaneously testing sewage for COVID-19 at the Surfside Wastewater Treatment Facility. The funds for that initiative are coming from a state program. Biobot, a Cambridge-based company specializing in wastewater epidemiology, started examining samples from the island in 2020. The town currently sends two samples weekly. This month, the company will begin testing sewage for cocaine, fentanyl, methamphetamine, nicotine, and opiates, along with common diseases like influenza and RSV. 'They can use the same samples we take,' said David Gray, the head of the Nantucket Sewer Department. 'The numbers will be interesting. They want to get a baseline, and that's the reason we test for COVID. It's going to be data that is a great forecasting tool.' Officials said they're not expecting to post the results of the testing publicly. Still, they will be shared with healthcare partners, said Mele, and shed light on local drug usage. 'Everyone's got a good idea of what the situation is, but we have very little direct measurement,' he said. 'When we get away from our gut to getting data, we get a better picture of what's going on.' In 2001, a report from the National Drug Intelligence Center identified cocaine, particularly crack cocaine, as the biggest drug threat for Nantucket and surrounding areas.
