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Fecal shedding of SARS-CoV-2 from COVID-19 patients and presence of the viral RNA in wastewater have extensively been reported. Some wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) processes generate aerosols which have the potential to transmit pathogenic microorganisms and present a health risk for exposed individuals. We analyzed the presence of viral RNA of...
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... samples were collected at 1-hourly intervals within a 12-h period from two wastewater treatment plants in Isfahan, Iran, from March 04 to March 17, 2020; during the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak. The location and characteristics of WWTPs are presented in Fig. 1 and Table 1, respectively. A total of 24 raw wastewater (after grit chamber) samples (12 samples from each WWTP), were collected in 250 mL sterile glasses and were transferred to the laboratory in an insulated box with cooling ...
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... samples were collected at 1-hourly intervals within a 12-h period from two wastewater treatment plants in Isfahan, Iran, from March 04 to March 17, 2020; during the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak. The location and characteristics of WWTPs are presented in Fig. 1 and Table 1, respectively. A total of 24 raw wastewater (after grit chamber) samples (12 samples from each WWTP), were collected in 250 mL sterile glasses and were transferred to the laboratory in an insulated box with cooling ...
Citations
... Among the 28 chosen studies, 9 were conducted in Europe (3 in Portugal [13][14][15], 2 in Poland [16,17], 2 in Denmark [18,19], 1 in Switzerland [20], and 1 in Austria [21]), 9 in Asia (specifically in China [4,5,[22][23][24][25][26][27][28]), 6 in the Middle East (Iran [6,[29][30][31][32][33]), and 4 in North America (3 in the USA [34][35][36] and 1 in Canada [37]). As expected, the higher concentration of bacteria was found when the lids were open; in the summer, Legionella was found in the water tanks 1 and 3, and in the water tank 1 Pseudomonas was present; in the winter, Legionella was also present in the water tank 1; bioaerossol samples showed a higher antimicrobial resistance of 50% (at four of the eight antbiotics tested), and the higher antimicrobial resistance of the water samples was 87.5% (resistance in the 7 of the 8 antibiotics). ...
... Among the chosen studies, 12 (42.86%) were conducted within Municipal WWTP [4,6,15,17,22,24,25,[28][29][30][31]37]. However, information regarding the type of WWTP was not explicit in 16 studies (57.14%) [5,13,14,16,[18][19][20][21]23,26,27,[32][33][34][35][36]. ...
... Furthermore, three authors conducted sampling activities across three seasons (10.71%) [15,27,33]. Five studies (17.86%) focused on a one-year longitudinal study [14,19,30,31,34]. Additionally, three studies (10.71%) differentiated sampling procedures between warm and cold seasons [6,29,37], whereas two studies did not specify the timing of their sampling activities (7.14%). ...
Background: Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are crucial in the scope of European Commission circular economy implementation. However, bioaerosol production may be a hazard for occupational and public health. A scoping review regarding microbial contamination exposure assessment in WWTPs was performed. Methods: This study was performed through PRISMA methodology in PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science. Results: 28 papers were selected for data extraction. The WWTPs’ most common sampled sites are the aeration tank (42.86%), sludge dewatering basin (21.43%) and grit chamber. Air sampling is the preferred sampling technique and culture-based methods were the most frequently employed assays. Staphylococcus sp. (21.43%), Bacillus sp. (7.14%), Clostridium sp. (3.57%), Escherichia sp. (7.14%) and Legionella sp. (3.57%) were the most isolated bacteria and Aspergillus sp. (17.86%), Cladosporium sp. (10.71%) and Alternaria sp. (10.71%) dominated the fungal presence. Conclusions: This study allowed the identification of the following needs: (a) common protocol from the field (sampling campaign) to the lab (assays to employ); (b) standardized contextual information to be retrieved allowing a proper risk control and management; (c) the selection of the most suitable microbial targets to serve as indicators of harmful microbial exposure. Filling these gaps with further studies will help to provide robust science to policy makers and stakeholders.
... Moreover, a significant proportion of wastewater workers, especially those who work in rural areas, fail to use adequate protective gear when handling raw sludge and biosolids samples during various phases of wastewater treatment and disposal (Gwenzi 2021;Sampson et al. 2017). According to studies of Gholipour et al. (2021) and Dada and Gyawali (2021), sludge treatment procedures like oxidation ditching, dewatering, and mechanical agitation can produce toxic aerosols harbouring SARS-CoV-2 as airborne particulate matter. These aerosols have the potential to retain viability and infectivity for a prolonged period inside the given environmental medium (Kareem et al. 2021;Fears et al. 2020). ...
... On the logarithmic scale, this relation appears to be approximately linear. Assuming that the diameter of the particles follows a lognormal distribution, the two parameters of the density can be obtained from Gholipour et al. (2021); Agranovski et al. (2004), which characterize the size particle range generated in WWTPs and swine farms, respectively. By applying the linear transformation, a mean recovery efficiency was obtained for the WWTP and the farm scenarios. ...
... All these seasonal probabilities would be exceeding the U.S. EPA benchmark (≤10E− 4 pppy). Inhalation of aerosols produced in a WWTP has been suggested as the primary exposure pathway for WWTP workers (Hsiao et al., 2020) and several studies have conducted QMRA to determine the risk of illness caused by inhalation exposure to HAdV (Carducci et al., 2016(Carducci et al., , 2018, and SARS-CoV-2 (Dada and Gyawali, 2021;Gholipour et al., 2021). The QMRA analyses by Carducci and colleagues also indicated a high-risk of illness for wastewater workers due to exposure to bioaerosols, reporting a higher average risk in sewage influent and biological oxidation tanks (15.64% and 12.73% for an exposure of 3 min) (Carducci et al., 2018). ...
... The most important exposure risk to COVID-19 in wastewater treatment plant is exposure through bioaerosols (Adelodun et al. 2022) and respiratory secretions (Gholipour et al. 2021) (Fig. 1). In Table 1 provided the most exposure risks to SARS-CoV-2 and control strategies in different wastewater treatment units. ...
... The risk assessment analysis showed a high risk of COVID-19 infection for workers through exposure to viral aerosols. Also in this study, the estimated annual infection risk is between 1.1 × 10 −2 and 2.3 × 10 −2 per person per year per worker, which is higher based on the reference value recommended by the WHO (10 −3 PPPY) (Gholipour et al. 2021). Some wastewater treatment processes (WWTPs) produce aerosols that have the potential to transmit pathogenic microorganisms. ...
Coronavirus or COVID-19 is a new type of virus causing severe acute respiratory syndrome which rapidly speared in the worldwide from 2019. One of the related concerns is the presence of the virus in human feces and sewage and the possible transmission routes of SARS-CoV-2. This study reviewed the risk of coronavirus exposure in wastewater treatment plants as well as its presence, survival, and potential removal in wastewater and sludge treatment processes. Reviewing the studies has shown that the presence of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in untreated wastewater has been confirmed and the main exposure risk to COVID-19 in wastewater treatment plants is through bioaerosols exposure. Applying risk assessment methods and determining the high-risk points for employees and as a result the use of appropriate personal protective equipment in these areas by employees in wastewater collection, transmission, and treatment facilities can decrease the risk of transmission of viruses in sewage, especially SARS-CoV-2. Moreover, discharge of untreated or incompletely treated wastewater into rivers and surface waters due to the survival of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater is a potential hazard for water and wastewater industry workers as well as people who are in contact with effluents and wastewater treatment sludge. Sensitivity to process monitoring and proper selection of wastewater and sludge treatment processes can potentially be effective in maximizing the removal of the virus or its RNA fragments.
... However, in patients without compromised immune systems but with extreme respiratory infections caused by viruses, including influenza, ASP has been identified more and more. Latest studies characterise pulmonary ASP associated with COVID-19 (CAPA) by Gholipour et al (2021). (2021), Brissot et al (2021) and Allaw et al (2021). ...
The characteristics of certain fungal infections, including fever, cough, and shortness of breath, may be similar to COVID-19. Laboratory tests are needed to establish whether an individual has a COVID-19 fungal infection. Any patient can experience COVID-19 and simultaneously a fungal infection. People with serious COVID-19 are especially vulnerable to bacterial or fungal infections, such as those in intensive care units (ICUs). Aspergillosis (ASP), invasive candidiasis, is among the most frequent fungal infections in COVID-19 patients. The increased prevalence of these fungal coinfections may be linked with serious disorders and deaths. Knowledge of the potential for fungal coinfection is important to minimize delays in diagnosis and care to help avoid serious diseases and mortality due to these infections.
... In addition, ventilation in indoor units, including the grille, MMH, and SDH, could be strengthened to reduce the bioaerosol concentrations. 45 The contribution of exposure time to exposure risk ranked second in the main operating units including the grille, MMH, and SDH. The average correlation coefficient values were 0.44, 0.54, and 0.58, and the average contributions were 20.55%, 32.16%, and 35.31%, respectively. ...
Helicobacter pylori (H. Pylori) is a highly pathogenic bacterium that can be transmitted through various means, including wastewater, which serves as both a source and sink for H. pylori. In the wastewater treatment process, the exposure risk of H. Pylori escaping through bioaerosols is easily overlooked. In this study, the pollution characteristics and variation patterns of H. Pylori in wastewater, sludge, and air medium were systematically investigated in a typical municipal wastewater treatment plant (MWTP) applying anaerobic-anoxic-aerobic process through long-term sampling. The results indicated a significant reduction of H. Pylori in wastewater and accumulation in excess sludge following the wastewater treatment process. H. Pylori was also detected in bioaerosols due to its escape during wastewater treatment and sludge dewatering. The highest detection concentrations of H. Pylori in the air were found in the sludge dewatering house. O3, solar radiation, ambient temperature, and wind speed all had negative effects on the relative abundance and respirable proportion of airborne H. pylori. In addition, H. Pylori in bioaerosols had the potential to contaminate the ambient environment and posed a potential health risk to operational workers. This study will help to recognize the pollution of H. Pylori in MWTPs and raise the attention to occupational exposure among MWTP workers.
... A seminal article published in 1985 [77] with a total citation count of 80 investigated bioaerosol emissions at varying distances from the aeration tank. The findings of this study likely laid the foundation for subsequent investigations, establishing the primary bioaerosol source in WWTPs, particularly aeration tanks involving mechanical agitation [18,37,39,40,42,57,73,75,77,78]. ...
... A seminal article published in 1985 [77] with a total citation count of 80 investigated bioaerosol emissions at varying distances from the aeration tank. The findings of this study likely laid the foundation for subsequent investigations, establishing the primary bioaerosol source in WWTPs, particularly aeration tanks involving mechanical agitation [18,37,39,40,42,57,73,75,77,78]. The research on the influence of different aeration systems on bioaerosol emission at WWTPs marked the first paper to enter the top 10 list, with a notable total citation count of 149. ...
Bioaerosol emission at various WWTP treatment units has drawn attention due to their potential negative impacts on human health. This study conducted a bibliometric analysis of the global research on bioaerosol emissions from WWTPs from 1995 to 2022. The Scopus database was used to identify relevant articles and research trends, major contributors in the field, and recent developments. The study examined 122 articles in the field of bioaerosols in WWTPs. The analysis findings showed that publications and citations peaked in 2022, with values of 25 and 818, respectively. At the beginning of the study period, the USA, Poland, and Italy led the publications’ ranking, but with time, China emerged as the most influential country in the field. Recent advances in the field have revealed that spectral intensity bioaerosol sensors have contributed to the faster and more reliable identification and classification of bioaerosols. It was also observed that probabilistic techniques relying on mathematical models and assumptions to ascertain the risks associated with bioaerosols may result in false interpretations. Despite their high cost, epidemiological studies were best for assessing plant workers’ health risks. The outbreak has raised questions about accurately evaluating and modeling SARS-CoV-2 persistence, infectivity, and aerosolization over WWTP sites and environmental factors. Finally, the study highlighted the potential of three control treatment approaches: carbon absorption, UV irradiation, and ozone treatments, which proved efficient in reducing bioaerosol emissions.
... In December 2019, the coronavirus, known as SARS-CoV-2, emerged in China and caused respiratory illness in humans [1,2], quickly spreading to most continents and countries, leading the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a high-transmission pandemic on 11 March 2020. This situation has become a global concern, requiring comprehensive changes in society, especially in the hospital setting. ...
In a pandemic context, it is essential to intensify precautions related to healthcare solid waste, known as HCSW, ensuring the continuous search for safer management and handling protocols of these materials. In this sense, the aim of this paper is to conduct a comprehensive review of the literature about the management of healthcare waste during the COVID-19 pandemic. The current investigation was underpinned by the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis) framework, selected to ensure the comprehensive and transparent presentation of the systematic review. In pursuit of this objective, three distinct keyword combinations were employed, namely, “solid waste management”, “medical waste”, and “COVID-19 pandemic”. Consequently, a total of 76 documents were incorporated into the analysis. The results of this analysis indicate that the amount and treatment of hospital solid waste were significantly affected by the pandemic, bringing impacts on social, economic, and environmental aspects. Recent studies have focused on mitigating these impacts by pursuing “green” solutions, such as implementing sustainable strategies, preserving biodiversity, adopting an eco-conscious lifestyle, improving healthcare infrastructure, raising public awareness, and changing HCSW management policies. In addition, alternative technologies have been explored for the adequate treatment of these wastes, as well as the replacement of harmful materials by safer substances. However, more scientific research on this topic is still needed, especially in the Brazilian context, in order to contribute to the development of strategies that minimize the impacts of the pandemic on both society and the environment.
... SARS-CoV was found to be detected in air samples, can lodge in aerosol droplets based on the amount of aerosol production rate, and further intensify the transmission through aerosol dispersion [27,28]. Besides, there are considerable observations reported on the association between SARS-CoV-2 and aerosol particles emitted from different sources [29]. Substantiating the above claims, Reinmuth-Selzle et al. [30] report that aerosol presence in the environment, regardless of the formation, can influence the longevity of disease occurrence due to its capacity to harbor pathogenic microorganisms [31]. ...
Introduction: Many studies were done earlier to understand the role of climatic, environmental, and sociodemographic factors in the transmission, spread, and viability of SARS-CoV-2. Objectives: While there are principal climatic factors that influence the transmission and spread, specific factors such as latitude and water body mass are not critically examined. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the role of latitude and heat flux from water body mass in coastal environs on the resurgence and incidence of COVID. Methodology: A study was conducted examining the cases reported per million population, latitude degrees, and coastline length in two criteria groups (n = 120 and 10) spanning five geographic continental regions. The collected data were statistically analyzed to validate the three prepositions of the study. Findings: The cases reported per million population were least in countries lying below 25˚-degree latitude, and countries in this range have the mean highest coastline length. Our analysis in the n = 120 group reveals a moderate relationship among rises in cases with latitude degrees (r = 0.425, p < 0.01, n =120) but is associated negatively with coastline length. From the top countries having the longest coastline length, the association among the variables reveals a weak relationship exists between cases and latitude (r = 0.356, p = 0.312, n = 10), while no correlation is observed with coastline length. Novelty:A rise in the incidence rate and the global resurgence of cases can be explained by previous researchers considering climatic variables and socio-demographic factors. However, other parameters, such as the latent heat of evaporation from water body mass in coastal zones in different latitudinal countries, on the incidence and resurgence patterns are examined in this study. Observations indicate that the disease incidence trend is not similar across all countries and that no single factor fully influences the rise in cases. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-05-024 Full Text: PDF
... Outros estudos reportaram a presença do RNA do SARS-CoV-2 em amostras de fezes de pacientes que já estavam curados (HOLSHUE et al., 2020;XIAO et al., 2020). Apesar de estudos alertarem sobre o potencial de transmissão secundária através do esgoto DHAMA et al., 2021;GHOLIPOUR et al., 2021;CHU et al., 2022), é importante ressaltar que a presença do material genético do novo coronavírus nas fezes humanas ou no esgoto não sugere necessariamente a transmissão ou infecção (ALI et al., 2021;LAHRICH et al., 2021). ...
... É possível que haja ainda a contaminação por fômites e mãos, principalmente por meio de contatos pessoais e com objetos ou superfícies contaminadas, apesar de o risco ser consideravelmente mais baixo se comparado à contaminação pela via respiratória (CDC, 2021;GONÇALVES et al., 2021;CHU et al., 2022). O SARS-CoV-2 invade as células humanas através da enzima conversora de angiotensina 2 GHOLIPOUR et al., 2021;CHU et al., 2022). ...
O esgoto contém grande diversidade de microrganismos, incluindo patógenos como os vírus, sendo, portanto, um meio propício para identificação da circulação de doenças infectocontagiosas – técnica conhecida como wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE). A WBE se mostra uma poderosa ferramenta de saúde pública para rastrear e sinalizar a situação epidemiológica da população, visto que as partículas virais do
SARS-CoV-2 podem ser expelidas nas fezes e urina dos contaminados antes mesmo do surgimento de sintomas e do diagnóstico clínico de COVID-19. Este estudo apresenta uma revisão de literatura sobre a presença de SARS-CoV-2 e outros vírus no esgoto doméstico e as possibilidades de remoção em estações de tratamento de esgoto (ETEs) convencionais e avançadas, bem como as técnicas de concentração e detecção em amostras ambientais. Ao final do artigo, foi apresentada uma análise econômica da aplicabilidade da WBE como instrumento de predição epidemiológica da COVID-19 em um município brasileiro.
