Fulton Schools Professor Rolf Halden is among researchers leading in the way in advancing wastewater-based epidemiology as a diagnostic tool to provide accurate and comprehensive assessments of public health. The technique can be used to get a broad picture of communitywide behaviors that affect health, including the use of alcohol, illicit drugs and tobacco, as well as exposure to hazardous chemicals, pharmaceuticals, viruses and antibiotic-resistant microbes. In addition to infectious disease monitoring, new disease biomarkers detectable in wastewater are being developed to enable researchers to mine samples for evidence of afflictions including diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Details are in a research paper recently published in the journal Environmental International that was authored by Halden, director of ASU’s Biodesign Center for Environmental Engineering, and Fulton Schools civil engineering doctoral student Sangeet Adhikari. The article is also published in Science Daily, Technology Networks, Smart Water Magazine, TechCodex, News Medical, Verve Times, Phys.Org, Mirage News, Honest Columnist and Environmental News Network

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