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The presence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in wastewater has been reported in several studies and similar research can be used as a proxy for an early warning of potential Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreaks. This study focused on profiling the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 genomes in wastewater samples obtained from facilities located in the Buffalo City Municipality. Raw samples were collected weekly using the grab technique for a period of 48 weeks. Ribonucleic acids were extracted from the samples, using the QIAGEN Powersoil Total RNA Extraction kit, and extracted RNA samples were further profiled for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 genomes using Quantitative Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) technique. Furthermore, various environmental matrices were utilized to estimate the potential health risk to plant operators associated with exposure to SARS-CoV-2 viral particles using the quantitative microbiological risk assessment (QMRA) model. Our findings revealed the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 genomes with concentrations that ranged from 0.22 ×   10 3 to 17.60 ×   10 3 genome copies per milliliter (GC/mL). Different exposure scenarios were employed for the QMRA model, and the findings indicate a probability of infection (P(i)) ranging from 0.93% to 37.81% across the study sites. Similarly, the P(i) was highly significant (p < 0.001) for the 20 mL volumetric intake as compared to other volumetric intake scenarios, and high P(i) was also observed in spring, autumn, and winter for all WWTPs. The P(i) was significantly different (p < 0.05) with respect to the different seasons and with respect to different volume scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cooking oils are an integral part of a human diet as they are used in almost all types of culinary practices. They serve as sources of lipids with a significant nutritive value and health benefits which can be attributed to their fatty acid compositions and biological antioxidants. However, cooking oils are usually subjected to thermal oxidation which occurs when fresh cooking oil is heated at high temperatures during various food preparations. Repeated use of cooking oils in the commercial food industry is also common to maximize profit. Thermal oxidation of edible oils had since attracted great attention of nutritionist and researchers given the deteriorative effect such as generation of very cytotoxic compounds, loss of carotenoid, phenolics and vitamins thus reducing the overall antioxidant properties of the oils. Furthermore, several in vivo studies had suggested that consumption of thermally-oxidized cooking oils might not be healthy as it might negatively influence the lipid profile (increased low density lipoprotein (LDL), decreased high density lipoprotein (HDL) and elevated cholesterol level), haematological system (alteration in concentration of heamoglobin (Hb), packed cell volume (PCV), white blood cell (WBC) count, neutrophil and lymphocyte counts), kidney function, and induce lipid peroxidation and oxidative stress which have been associated with the pathogenesis of various degenerative diseases. Therefore, thermal oxidation seems not to provide any health benefit, as it deteriorates cooking oils and the consumption of the oils may predispose consumers to various disease conditions that may ensue from free radical generation, thereby having deleterious effect on human health.