An article published in the journal Water Research a few months ago (Gerrity, D., et al., 2011. Temporal variability of pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs in wastewater and the effects of a major sporting event. Water Research 45(17):5399–5411) describes a study undertaken during Super Bowl XLIV in 2010, when the New Orleans Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts. Samples were collected from an unnamed wastewater treatment plant serving 1 million people every 30 minutes for a 12 hour period before, during, and after the game. Samples were also collected one month later for comparison.

The illicit drug compounds that were screened for included methamphetamine, cocaine, ecstasy, heroin, and cannabis, as well as metabolites (breakdown products) for each drug. The researchers also analyzed for some pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) that are more typically screened for in wastewater.

All of the drugs were detected in the wastewater, but the researchers didn’t find any significant differences between Super Bowl Sunday and the baseline date, except for one cocaine metabolite. One of the concerns about PPCPs is that some of them pass through the wastewater treatment system without being significantly degraded. Turns out that the treatment system sampled in this study did a good job of removing the illicit drug compounds, so there isn’t a major concern of aquatic organisms in the effluent receiving waters getting high.

The researchers did notice that wastewater peaked prior to the game and was low during the game, so there is some truth to that urban myth.

Here’s a link to some urban myths associated with the Super Bowl.