University of Tasmania, Law Faculty, Private Bag 89, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia.
University of Queensland, UQ Centre for Clinical Research, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital Site, Herston, QLD 4029, Australia.
Sci Total Environ. 2014 Feb 15;472:550-5. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.11.039. Epub 2013 Dec 7.
To discuss the need to develop ethical guidelines for researchers using sewage epidemiology to monitor drug use in the general population and specific precincts, including prisons, schools and workplaces.
Describe current applications of sewage epidemiology, identify potential ethical risks associated with this science, and identify key means by which these risks may be mitigated through proportionate ethical guidance that allows this science to be fully developed.
A rapidly advancing field of research is sewage epidemiology (SE) - the analysis of wastewater samples to monitor illicit drug use and other substances. Typically this research involves low ethical risks because individual participants cannot be identified and, consequently, review has been waived by human research ethics committees. In the absence of such oversight, ethical research guidelines are recommended for SE teams, peer reviewers and journal editors; guidelines will assist them to mitigate any risks in general population studies and studies of prisons, schools and workplaces. Potential harms include the stigmatisation of participants and, in the prison setting, austere policy responses to SE data that impact negatively upon inmate-participants. The risk of harm can be managed through research planning, awareness of the socio-political context in which results will be interpreted (or, in the case of media, sensationalised) and careful relations with industry partners. Ethical guidelines should be developed in consultation with SE scholars and be periodically amended. They should include publication processes that safeguard scientific rigour and be promulgated through existing research governance structures.
Guidelines will assist to promote an ethical research culture among SE teams and scholars involved in the publication process and this will work to protect the reputation of the field.
讨论为使用污水流行病学监测普通人群和特定区域（包括监狱、学校和工作场所）药物使用情况的研究人员制定伦理准则的必要性。
描述污水流行病学的当前应用，确定与该科学相关的潜在伦理风险，并确定通过适当的伦理指导减轻这些风险的关键手段，从而使该科学得以充分发展。
污水流行病学（SE）是一个快速发展的研究领域——通过分析废水样本来监测非法药物和其他物质的使用情况。通常，这种研究涉及的伦理风险较低，因为无法识别个体参与者，因此人类研究伦理委员会已豁免了对此类研究的审查。在没有这种监督的情况下，建议为 SE 团队、同行评审员和期刊编辑制定伦理研究准则；这些准则将有助于减轻一般人群研究和监狱、学校和工作场所研究中的任何风险。潜在的危害包括参与者的污名化，以及在监狱环境中，对 SE 数据的严厉政策反应会对囚犯参与者产生负面影响。可以通过研究计划、对结果将被解释（或在媒体情况下被夸大）的社会政治背景的认识以及与行业合作伙伴的谨慎关系来管理危害风险。伦理准则应在与 SE 学者协商后制定，并定期修订。它们应包括保护科学严谨性的出版流程，并通过现有的研究治理结构进行宣传。
准则将有助于在参与出版过程的 SE 团队和学者中促进一种伦理研究文化，这将有助于保护该领域的声誉。
