Search

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to rapid scientific progress in wastewater-based surveillance of community infections. Measuring levels of RNA from SARS-CoV-2 in sewage samples began to be used as a [...]

We determined correlations between SARS-CoV-2 load in untreated water and COVID-19 cases and patient hospitalizations before the Omicron variant (September 2020-November 2021) at 2 wastewater treatment plants in the Regional Municipality of Peel, Ontario, Canada. Using pre-Omicron correlations, we estimated incident COVID-19 cases during Omicron outbreaks (November 2021-June 2022). The strongest correlation between wastewater SARS-CoV-2 load and COVID-19 cases occurred 1 day after sampling (r = 0.911). The strongest correlation between wastewater load and COVID-19 patient hospitalizations occurred 4 days after sampling (r = 0.819). At the peak of the Omicron BA.2 outbreak in April 2022, reported COVID-19 cases were underestimated 19-fold because of changes in clinical testing. Wastewater data provided information for local decision-making and are a useful component of COVID-19 surveillance systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The present study examined in vitro 11‐ketotestosterone and testosterone production by the testes of rainbow darter (Etheostoma caeruleum) collected from selected reference sites and downstream of 2 municipal wastewater treatment plants (MWWTPs; Waterloo and Kitchener) on the central Grand River (Ontario, Canada), over a 6‐yr period (2011–2016). The main objective was to investigate if infrastructure upgrades at the Kitchener MWWTP in 2012 resulted in a recovery of this response in the post‐upgrade period (2013–2016). Two supporting studies showed that the fall season is appropriate for measuring in vitro sex steroid production because it provides stable detection of steroid patterns, and that the sample handling practiced in the present study did not introduce a bias. Infrastructure upgrades of the Kitchener MWWTP resulted in significant reductions in ammonia and estrogenicity. After the upgrades, 11‐ketotestosterone production by MWWTP‐exposed fish increased in 2013 and it continued to recover throughout the study period of 2014 through 2016, returning to levels measured in reference fish. Testosterone production was less sensitive and it lacked consistency. The Waterloo MWWTP underwent some minor upgrades but the level of ammonia and estrogenicity remained variable over time. The production of 11‐ketotestosterone and testosterone in rainbow darter below the Waterloo MWWTP was variable and without a clear recovery pattern over the course of the present study. The results of the present study demonstrated that measuring production of sex steroids (especially 11‐ketotestosterone) over multiple years can be relevant for assessing responses in fish to environmental changes such as those resulting from major infrastructure upgrades. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018;37:501–514. © 2017 SETAC [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stable isotopes (δ 15 N and δ 13 C) were used to assess the changes in exposure and assimilation of sewage-derived nutrients in an aquatic food web following changes in effluent quality over an 8 year period at two municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) that discharge to the Grand River, in southern Ontario. Upgrades at the Kitchener WWTP started in late 2012 to enhance nitrification, while the Waterloo WWTP had a series of construction issues at the plant that resulted in a deterioration of its effluent quality over the study period (2007–2014). Fish (rainbow darter, Etheostoma caeruleum ) and primary consumers (benthic invertebrates) were sampled in the receiving waters associated with each outfall. Upgrades at the Kitchener WWTP resulted in improved effluent quality with total annual ammonia output dropping by nearly sixfold (583–100 t), while the Waterloo WWTP increased its total annual ammonia output by nearly fourfold (135–500 t) over the duration of the study. Downstream of the Kitchener WWTP, the reduction in total ammonia output negatively correlated with changes in δ 15 N of rainbow darter from being depleted (prior to the upgrade) to reflecting signatures similar to those at the upstream reference site. The biota downstream of the Waterloo WWTP showed the opposite trend, going from slightly enriched, to being depleted relative to the upstream reference sites. δ 13 C was consistently higher downstream of both WWTPs regardless of changing effluent quality, and annual variability in δ 13 C was associated with annual river discharge. In a laboratory based dietary switch study conducted with rainbow darter, the isotope half-life in muscle (29 days for δ 15 N and 33 days for δ 13 C) were determined and these rapid changes were consistent with responses in muscle of wild fish. This is a unique study that was able to contrast two WWTPs in the same watershed as they underwent major changes in treatment processes. Stable isotopes were very effective as a tool to trace the changes in aquatic biota due to changes in wastewater effluent quality, both improvements and deterioration over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We determined correlations between SARS-CoV-2 load in untreated water and COVID-19 cases and patient hospitalizations before the Omicron variant (September 2020-November 2021) at 2 wastewater treatment plants in the Regional Municipality of Peel, Ontario, Canada. Using pre-Omicron correlations, we estimated incident COVID-19 cases during Omicron outbreaks (November 2021-June 2022). The strongest correlation between wastewater SARS-CoV-2 load and COVID-19 cases occurred 1 day after sampling (r = 0.911). The strongest correlation between wastewater load and COVID-19 patient hospitalizations occurred 4 days after sampling (r = 0.819). At the peak of the Omicron BA.2 outbreak in April 2022, reported COVID-19 cases were underestimated 19-fold because of changes in clinical testing. Wastewater data provided information for local decision-making and are a useful component of COVID-19 surveillance systems.

The present study examined in vitro 11-ketotestosterone and testosterone production by the testes of rainbow darter (Etheostoma caeruleum) collected from selected reference sites and downstream of 2 municipal wastewater treatment plants (MWWTPs; Waterloo and Kitchener) on the central Grand River (Ontario, Canada), over a 6-yr period (2011-2016). The main objective was to investigate if infrastructure upgrades at the Kitchener MWWTP in 2012 resulted in a recovery of this response in the post-upgrade period (2013-2016). Two supporting studies showed that the fall season is appropriate for measuring in vitro sex steroid production because it provides stable detection of steroid patterns, and that the sample handling practiced in the present study did not introduce a bias. Infrastructure upgrades of the Kitchener MWWTP resulted in significant reductions in ammonia and estrogenicity. After the upgrades, 11-ketotestosterone production by MWWTP-exposed fish increased in 2013 and it continued to recover throughout the study period of 2014 through 2016, returning to levels measured in reference fish. Testosterone production was less sensitive and it lacked consistency. The Waterloo MWWTP underwent some minor upgrades but the level of ammonia and estrogenicity remained variable over time. The production of 11-ketotestosterone and testosterone in rainbow darter below the Waterloo MWWTP was variable and without a clear recovery pattern over the course of the present study. The results of the present study demonstrated that measuring production of sex steroids (especially 11-ketotestosterone) over multiple years can be relevant for assessing responses in fish to environmental changes such as those resulting from major infrastructure upgrades. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018;37:501-514. © 2017 SETAC., (© 2017 SETAC.)