A male strip revue contributed to Queenstown achieving New Zealand’s second-highest level of alcohol consumption.
University of Auckland scientists have conducted the country’s first large-scale trial using wastewater to monitor how much alcohol New Zealanders are drinking.
Auckland School of Chemical Sciences senior lecturer and Aotearoa New Zealand Centre of Research Excellence principal investigator Dr Lisa Pilkington said the technique of testing wastewater was already being used for monitoring Covid-19 and illicit drug use.
Now scientists were testing wastewater for ethyl sulphate — a compound excreted after the body metabolises the ethanol in an alcoholic drink.
It was hoped the data would help health service providers track alcohol consumption.
‘‘This method can give a lot of insights which wouldn’t otherwise be available.
‘‘It’s also much cheaper compared to traditional data collection techniques, especially considering the breadth of data that is able to be measured.’’
Ten water catchment areas covering about 40% of New Zealand’s population were monitored over six months during 2021, in collaboration with the Institute of Environmental Science and Research’s (ESR) wastewater-testing team.
The samples came from four catchment areas in Auckland (north, central, west and south), and from Palmerston North, Wairoa, Dunedin, Queenstown, Westport and Christchurch.
Dr Pilkington said the places were chosen to give a range of city sizes and coverage of both North and South islands.
Sampling took place over seven days each month.
Westport recorded the highest level of alcohol in wastewater, an average of 16.6ml of alcohol per person per day.
Queenstown was close behind with 15.7ml; Wairoa recorded 14.7ml; and Dunedin and Palmerston North recorded 13.5ml.
The national mean was 12.2ml.
Drinking spikes were detected and associated with special events such as public holidays and sporting events.
The highest consumption recorded in Queenstown was on the day The Stallions male strip revue gave a one-night-only performance.
Dr Pilkington said consumption did not seem to increase during Covid-19 lockdowns, but in some cases was higher during weekdays than weekends — very different from the usual weekly trend.
The main trends were South Islanders consumed more alcohol than North Islanders, and smaller settlements had higher consumption than bigger ones.
One of the surprises of the research was that South Aucklanders drank the least of any place studied.
University of Auckland master’s student Miriama Wilson, who worked on the research as part of her thesis, said the result showed South Auckland was the victim of an ‘‘unfair and prejudicial stereotype’’.
‘‘We hope that New Zealanders can overcome the stereotype that Maori and Pasifika are big drinkers.’’
Dr Pilkington said alcohol was an influential drug that had extensive societal impact.
In New Zealand, there were a number of worrying trends related to alcohol consumption, including rates of alcohol-related harm and violence and heavy episodic drinking.
She hoped the community-scale data would help health authorities understand consumption patterns and trends, so they could better provide resources to address alcohol consumption’s effects in the community.
