Get Your Mind Into the Sewer

“If you live in London, Dr Leon Barron knows what you’re up to. He knows what prescribed drugs you’re on – painkillers, antidepressants, antipsychotics or beta blockers – and what illicit ones you’re taking for fun. He knows if you’ve been drinking and when (“Friday and Saturday are the main ones”); perhaps even if you’re worried about your dog getting fleas.” The study of wastewater seemed to hit its stride just in time for the science to be used as a remarkably effective way to track the rise and fall of Covid cases in distinct regions. As the tech advances, researchers can learn a lot about what going on (and in and out) across local populations. There’s something in the water. And it’s the story of us. The Guardian talks to a water detective who studies London’s wastewater. ‘I see cocaine in wild shrimp in Suffolk’: meet the scientist who analyses our wastewater.