Samples were collected from across 55 wastewater treatment plants across Australia in April, to monitor 13 substances.
Twelve sites were monitored in Queensland in April; three capital cities and nine regional sites.
UQ’s Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences researcher Ben Tscharke said the latest report tracked changes in consumption habits in April and June as the country entered and exited the pandemic shutdowns.
“The main thing we saw was in the April period, the [alcohol] use was slightly decreased, but the main decrease was on the weekend – it basically knocked out…