Dr Ben Tscharke

Senior Research Fellow

Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences
Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences
b.tscharke@uq.edu.au
+61 7 334 61971

Overview

Dr Ben Tscharke is an early career researcher and analytical chemist with a keen interest in quantifying analytes in environmental samples. Ben is currently a Research Fellow at the University of Queensland research institute, Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), joining in February 2017 after graduating his PhD from the University of South Australia the previous year. His key focus at QAEHS involves the wastewater based epidemiological approach to determine community consumption and exposure to a range of illicit drugs, pharmaceuticals and personal care products. He has significant involvement in the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission's National Wastewater Drug Monitoring program, for which UQ collaborates with the University of South Australia (https://www.acic.gov.au/publications/intelligence-products/national-wastewater-drug-monitoring-program-report).

Research Interests

  • Wastewater-based epidemiology
    I am a research fellow at QAEHS focussed on estimating population-level consumption of licit and illicit drugs in communities via measuring drugs and drug metabolites in wastewater. One of my main interests is extending the utility of wastewater data by combining it with other forms of data to improve understanding of drug use and exposure to chemicals in our communities.

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, University of South Australia

Publications

View all Publications

Supervision

View all Supervision

Publications

Book Chapter

  • O'Brien, Jake W., Thai, Phong K. and Tscharke, Benjamin J. (2023). Population biomarkers for wastewater-based epidemiology. Wastewater-based epidemiology for the assessment of human exposure to environmental pollutants. (pp. 123-138) edited by Mohammad Hadi Dehghani, Rama Rao Karri, Nikolaos Rousis and Emma Gracia-Lor. London, United Kingdom: Academic Press. doi: 10.1016/b978-0-443-19172-5.00005-6

Journal Article

Conference Publication

  • Shimko, Katja M., O’Brien, Jake W., Tscharke, Benjamin J., Brooker, Lance, Goebel, Catrin, Shiels, Ryan, Speers, Noami, Mueller, Jochen F. and Thomas, Kevin V. (2022). Prevalence and emergence of steroidal and non-steroidal anabolic agents in the Australian community measured through wastewater analysis. 30th meeting of SFTA - 59th meeting of TIAFT, Versailles, France, 5-8 September 2022. Issy les Moulineaux, France: Elsevier Masson. doi: 10.1016/j.toxac.2022.06.010

  • Puljevic, Cheneal, Wessel, Ellen Leslie, Francis, Cameron, Tregoning, Will, Measham, Fiona, Page, Rob, Blakey, Karen, Hiley, Sarah, Eassey, Chris, McKinnon, Ginny, Sinclair, Genevieve, Fry, Jacob, Blatchford, Emily, Engel, Liam, Stowe, M.J., Norvill, Alice, Buckley, Jeff, Ferris, Jason, Barrett, Monica, Tscharke, Ben, Verhagen, Rory, O'Brien, Jake and Bade, Richard (2022). Pills & Pee: Using triangulated survey and wastewater data to understand patterns of illicit drug use among Australian music festival attendees. The Australian Winter School, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 18-19 August 2022.

  • Puljevic, Cheneal, Wessel, Ellen, Barratt, Monica, Ferris, Jason, Tscharke, Ben J. , Verhagen, Rory, Bade, Richard, O'Brien, Jake and Mueller, Jochen (2021). Using Triangulated Survey and Wastewater Data to Understand Patterns of Illicit Drug Use among Australian Music Festival Attendees. Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and Other Drugs Conference, Brisbane, Australia, 7-10 November 2021. Australia: Wiley. doi: 10.1111/dar.13384

  • Thomas, Kevin, O'Brien, Jake, Tscharke, Benjamin, Choi, Phil, Thai, Phong, Mackie, Miss, Verhagen, Rory, Shimko, Katja, Ahmed, Fahad, O'Malley, Elissa, Zheng, Quida and Mueller, Jochen (2019). Expanding wastewater-based epidemiology to inform on public health. Fall National Meeting and Exposition of the American-Chemical-Society (ACS), San Diego, CA, United States, 25-29 August 2019. Washington, DC, United States: American Chemical Society.

  • Choi, P., Tscharke, B., Samanipour, S., O’Brien, J., Thomas, K. and Mueller, J. (2019). Influence of population age and socioeconomics on chemical consumption and diet patterns measured by wastewater based epidemiology. 2019 Annual Conference of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology, Utrecht, Netherlands, 25-28 August 2019. Alphen aan de Rijn, Netherlands: Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health). doi: 10.1097/01.ee9.0000606448.07396.1d

  • Gerber, Cobus, Nguyen, Lynn, Bade, Richard, White, Jason, Tscharke, Benjamin, O'Brien, Jake, Mueller, Jochen and Thomas, Kevin (2019). Measuring the scale of opioid consumption in Australia by wastewater analysis. Fall National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), San Diego, CA, United States, 25-29 August 2019. Washington, DC, United States: American Chemical Society.

  • Thai, Phong, O'Brien, Jake, Tscharke, Benjamin, Du, Peng, Li, Xiqing, Bruno, Raimondo, Thomas, Kevin and Mueller, Jochen (2019). Monitoring opioid use through wastewater-based epidemiology: Case of methadone in Australia and China. Fall National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), San Diego, CA, United States, 25-29 August 2019. Washington, DC, United States: American Chemical Society.

  • Mackie, Miss, Tscharke, Benjamin, O'Brien, Jake, Choi, Phil, Gartner, Coral, Thomas, Kevin and Mueller, Jochen (2019). Trends in nicotine consumption between 2010 and 2017 in an Australian city using the wastewater-based epidemiology approach. Fall National Meeting and Exposition of the American-Chemical-Society (ACS), San Diego, CA, United States, 25-29 August 2019. Washington, DC, United States: American Chemical Society.

  • Choi, Phil M. , O'Brien, Jake W. , Tscharke, Ben , Thomas, Kevin V. and Mueller, Jochen F. (2017). Assessing population health by wastewater analysis. 2nd Queensland Mass Spectrometry Symposium 2017, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia, 2-3 November 2017.

  • Kayalar, Hasan , O'Brien, Jake , Shimko, Katja , Tscharke, Ben , Choi, Phil , Ferris, Jason , Eaglesham, Geoff , Jiang, Hui , Barron, Leon , Mueller, Jochen and Thomas, Kevin (2017). Can wastewater analysis be used to inform on the clandestine production of methylamphetamine?. 2nd Queensland Mass Spectrometry Symposium, Brisbane, Australia, 2-3 November 2017.

  • Shimko, Katja, O'Brien, Jake, Kayalar, Hasan, Choi, Phil, Jiang, Hui, Tscharke, Ben, Zahnow, Renee, Eaglesham, Geoff, Mueller, Jochen, Barron, Leon and Thomas, Kevin (2017). Can wastewater-based epidemiology be used for the assessment of anabolic steroid use?. Qld Annual Chemistry Symposium, Brisbane, Australia, 27 November 2017.

  • Shimko, Katja , O'Brien, Jake , Kayalar, Hasan , Choi, Phil , Jiang, Hui , Tscharke, Ben , Zahnow, Renee , Eaglesham, Geoff , Mueller, Jochen, Barron, Leon and Thomas, Kevin (2017). Can wastewater-based epidemiology be used for the assessment of anabolic steroid use?. 2nd Queensland Mass Spectrometry Symposium 2017, Brisbane, Australia, 2-3 November 2017. Brisbane, QLD., Australia: QIMR .

  • O'Brien, Jake , Tscharke, Ben , Gerber, Cobus , Grant, Sharon , White, Jason , Thomas, Kevin , Bade, Richard and Mueller, Jochen (2017). Development of a national wastewater drug monitoring program in Australia. Lisbon Addictions: 2nd European Conference on Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies, Lisbon, Portugal, 24-26 October 2017.

  • O'Brien, Jake, Grant, Sharon, Thai, Phong, Ort, Christoph, Eaglesham, Geoff, Vijayasarathy, Soumini, Lai, Foon Yin, Covaci, Adrian, Novic, Andrew, Tscharke, Ben, Choi, Phil, Thomas, Kevin and Mueller, Jochen (2017). Finding population and demographic markers in wastewater using samples collected during a population census. Testing the Waters 2017: 3rd International conference on “Wastewater – Based Drug Epidemiology”, Lisbon, Portugal, 26-27 October 2017.

  • Tscharke, Ben , O'Brien, Jake , Gerber, Cobus , Grant, Sharon , White, Jason , Thomas, Kevin , Bade, Richard and Mueller, Jochen (2017). Spatial differences in illicit drug use in Australia’s capital and regional areas; initial results from the National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program. SETAC Australasia Conference 2017, Gold Coast, Australia, 4-6 September 2017.

  • Tscharke, Ben , Gerber, Cobus , O'Brien, Jake , Grant, Sharon , Mueller, Jochen, Thomas, Kevin , Bade, Richard and White, Jason (2017). Spatial differences in illicit drug use in Australia’s capital and regional areas; initial results from the National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program. Testing the waters 2017 Wastewater-based epidemiology: current applications and future perspectives 3rd international conference, Lisbon, Portugal, 26-27 October 2017.

  • Thomas, Kevin , O'Brien, Jake , Bijlsma, Lubertus , Castiglioni, Sara , Covaci, Adrian , de Voogt, Pim , Emke, Erik , Hernandez, Felix , Gerber, Cobus , Grant, Sharon , Kasprzyk-Hordern, Barbara , Mueller, Jochen , Ort, Christoph , Reid, Malcolm , Tscharke, Ben , van Nuijs, Alexander and White, Jason (2017). The challenges of performing large-scale multi-city wastewater-based epidemiology studies. Testing the waters 2017 Wastewater-based epidemiology: current applications and future perspectives 3rd international conference, Lisbon, Portugal, 26-27 October 2017.

  • Choi, Phil M. , O'Brien, Jake W. , Tscharke, Ben , Mackie, Rachel , Eaglesham, Geoff , Grant, Sharon , Thomas, Kevin V. and Mueller, Jochen F. (2017). Towards monitoring population food consumption and dietary status using wastewater based epidemiology. 13th Annual Conference of the Metabolomics Society, Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, Brisbane, Australia, 26-29 June 2017.

  • O'Brien, Jake , Grant, Sharon , Thai, Phong , Ort, Christoph , Eaglesham, Geoff , Vijayasarathy, Soumini , Lai, Foon Yin , Covaci, Adrian , Novic, Andrew , Tscharke, Ben , Choi, Phil , Thomas, Kevin and Mueller, Jochen (2017). Using wastewater analysis to find demographic markers. 2nd Queensland Mass Spectrometry Symposium 2017, Brisbane, Australia, 2-3 November 2017.

  • O'Brien, Jake , Grant, Sharon , Thai, Phong , Ort, Christoph , Eaglesham, Geoff , Vijayasarathy, Soumini , Lai, Foon Yin , Covaci, Adrian , Novic, Andrew , Tscharke, Ben , Choi, Phil , Thomas, Kevin and Mueller, Jochen (2017). Using wastewater analysis to find population and demographic markers in wastewater. SETAC Australasia Conference 2017, Gold Coast, Australia, 4-6 September 2017.

  • O'Brien, Jake , Tscharke, Ben , Grant, Sharon , Thai, Phong , Ort, Christoph , Lai, Foon Yin , Mackie, Rachel , Covaci, Adrian , Bruno, Raimondo , Gartner, Coral , Prichard, Jeremy , Hall, Wayne , Kirkbride, Paul , Choi, Phil , Thomas, Kevin and Mueller, Jochen (2017). Wastewater analysis: a tool for measuring population consumption of chemicals and release of chemicals to the environment. Environmental Health Australia 42nd National Conference, Brisbane, Australia, 16-19 October 2017.

  • Tscharke, Ben, Chen, Chang, Gerber, Cobus and White, Jason (2014). Estimation of stimulant use in metropolitan Adelaide by wastewater analysis. Australian and New Zealand Forensic Science Society, Adelaide, 31 August-4 September 2014.

  • Hall, Wayne, White, Jason, Lai, Foonyin, Gerber, Cobus, Chen, Chang, Tscharke, Ben and White, Jason (2013). Waste Water Analysis of Illicit Drug Use in the Population. Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs (APSAD) conference, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 24 - 27 November 1013. Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.. doi: 10.1111/dar.12077

Other Outputs

  • Tscharke, Ben, Shiels, Ryan, Mackie, Rachel, Gorji, Sara, Prasad, Pritesh, Carswell, Christina, Teimouri, Homa, Cheneval, Olivier and Kaserzon, Sarit (2021). Passive sampling for Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) at Brisbane Airport. Brisbane, Australia: Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences.

  • Tscharke, B, O'Brien, J., Reeks, T., Elisei, G., Grant, S., Mueller, J., Thomas, K., Ghetia, M., Bade, R., Nguyen, L., Gerber, C. and White, J. (2019). National wastewater drug monitoring program - report 8. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC).

  • Tscharke, B., Reeks, T., Elisei, G., O'Brien, J., Grant, S., Mueller, J., Thomas, K., Ghetia, M., Bade, R., Nguyen, L., Gerber, C. and White, J. (2019). National wastewater drug monitoring program - report 7. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC).

  • Tscharke, B., Mackie, R., O’Brien, J., Grant, S., Mueller, J., Thomas, K., Ghetia, M., Bade, R., Gerber, C. and White, J. (2018). National wastewater drug monitoring program: sixth report. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC).

  • Tscharke, Bengamine J., Mackie, Rachel, O'Brien, Jake W., Grant, Sharon, Mueller, Jochen, Ghetia, Maulik, Aghera, Hetal, Bade, Richard, Gerber, Cobus and White, Jason (2018). National wastewater drug monitoring program - report 5. Canberra, ACT, Australia: Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC).

  • Tscharke, Ben, Mackie, Rachel, O'Brien, Jake, Grant, Sharon, Mueller, Jochen, Ghetia, Maulik, Aghera, Hetal, Bade, Richard, Gerber, Cobus and White, Jason (2018). National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program - Report 4. -:

  • Tscharke, Ben, Mackie, Rachel, O'Brien, Jake, Grant, Sharon, Mueller, Jochen, Ghetia, Maulik, Aghera, Hetal, Bade, Richard, Gerber, Cobus and White, Jason (2017). National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program – Report 3. Canberra, ACT Australia: Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.

  • Kaserzon, Sarit , Vijayasarathy, Soumini , Mueller, Linus , Van Niekerk, Sean , Braeunig, Jennifer , Thompson, Kristie , Tscharke, Ben , Gray, Robert and Mueller, Jochen (2017). Calibration of novel passive sampling devices for the monitoring of PFAS in groundwater. Report prepared for the Department of Defence:

  • Tscharke, Ben, Mackie, Rachel, O'Brien, Jake, Grant, Sharon, Mueller, Jochen, Bade, Richard, Ghetia, Maulik, Gerber, Cobus and White, Jason (2017). National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program - Report 2. Canberra, ACT Australia: Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.

  • O'Brien, Jake, Grant, Sharon, Mueller, Jochen, Tscharke, Ben, Gerber, Cobus and White, Jason (2017). National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program - Report 1. Canberra, ACT Australia: Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.

Grants (Administered at UQ)

PhD and MPhil Supervision

Current Supervision

Completed Supervision