An LSU professor developed a new method for tracking certain synthetic opioids through wastewater with the help of an undergraduate student and a graduate student.
Bikram Subedi, an assistant professor in environmental sciences, worked with Emilia Lomnicki and Ramesh Sapkota. Lomnicki is a senior chemistry major, and Sapkota is a second-year graduate student studying environmental sciences.
Their detection method involves testing wastewater. Subedi said this process is ideal because wastewater testing is non-invasive and offers real-time data.
Nitazenes are Schedule 1 synthetic opioids that cause pain-relieving effects similar to those of fentanyl. However, nitazenes are even more potent than fentanyl. Subedi said nitazenes can be 10 to 50 times stronger than fentanyl.
Pharmaceutical laboratories first synthesized nitazenes in the 1950s in an attempt to create alternatives for morphine, Subedi explained. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration never approved the therapeutic use of these drugs because of the potential for overdose.
Nitazenes emerged on the illegal drug market in the U.S. in 2019, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Early Warning Advisory.
Subedi and the two students collected wastewater samples from New Orleans during the Superbowl and Mardi Gras celebrations in 2025. The team found seven of the nine types of nitazenes in the samples, indicating a substantial use of these drugs during those festivities.
“In the United States, our lab is a frontrunner in this area of research,” Subedi said. “This is the first time we’ve comprehensively analyzed all those nitazenes in wastewater and are able to detect those compounds.”
Subedi explained that public health officials and law enforcement should be aware of this information. He said that nobody expected these drugs to appear on the scene again in 2019, and some forensic labs do not even have methods to detect these compounds.
Subedi studies how much and what types of drugs people are using, the pattern of use and the trend in drug use over time. He said he has been working on this area of research since 2013.
Lomnicki and Sapkota said they did much of the hands-on work like extracting and analyzing the samples. Subedi and the two students published a paper on their findings earlier this month.
The team is now monitoring the use of these drugs all over Louisiana. Subedi said they have collected more samples this year that they have not yet analyzed.
Lomicki said she enjoys applying her chemistry knowledge to this kind of research.
“I would have never guessed that chemistry could be so heavily incorporated in something this important,” Lomnicki said. “The general population would never guess that you can calculate drug consumption through wastewater. Who would have thought of that? There’s a lot of chemistry behind it, and I think that’s super interesting.”
The team pointed out that mass gatherings like the Superbowl and Mardi Gras affect the data.
“Festive environments can create environments where people are actually encouraged to get into these drugs, and they can be more available,” Subedi said. “People’s behavior on using drugs during mass gatherings can be significantly different than in a typical day or week.”
Therefore, the data they obtained from New Orleans last year will probably not be consistent with future samples, so they are still monitoring this drug use there.
Sapkota said he plans to continue working on this research as well as other drug projects for the remainder of his time as a graduate student.
Lomnicki said the future of this drug project will heavily focus on comparison to past samples.
“It’s important to see how, you know, with the opioid crisis, how our state, our home is affected by it,” Lomnicki said. “Just seeing, with the data that we’re getting this year from New Orleans, how, just within a year, it shows a difference in comparison.”
