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Normalization of viral loads in Wastewater-Based Epidemiology using routine parameters: One year monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 in urban and tourist sewersheds.

Authors :
Foladori P
Cutrupi F
Cadonna M
Postinghel M
Source :
Journal of hazardous materials [J Hazard Mater] 2024 Oct 05; Vol. 478, pp. 135352. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Jul 26.
Publication Year :
2024

Abstract

In wastewater-based epidemiology, normalization of experimental data is a crucial aspect, as emerged in the recent surveillance of COVID-19. Normalization facilitates the comparison between different areas or periods, and it helps in evaluating the differences due to the fluctuation of the population due to seasonal employment or tourism. Analysis of biomarkers in wastewater (i.e. drugs, beverage and food compounds, microorganisms such as PMMoV or crAssphage, etc.) is complex to perform, and it is not routinely monitored. This study compares the results of alternative normalization approaches applied to SARS-CoV-2 loads in wastewater using population size calculated with conventional hydraulic and/or chemical parameters (i.e. total suspended solids, chemical oxygen demand, nitrogen forms, etc.) commonly used in the routine monitoring of water quality. A total of 12 wastewater treatment plants were monitored, and 1068 samples of influent wastewater were collected in urban areas and in highly touristic areas (summer and/or winter). The results indicated that both census and population estimated with ammonium are effective and reliable parameters with which to normalize SARS-CoV-2 loads in wastewater from urban sewersheds with negligible fluctuating populations. However, this study reveals that, in the case of tourist locations, the population calculated using NH <subscript>4</subscript> -N loads can provide a better normalization of the specific viral load per inhabitant.<br />Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.<br /> (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1873-3336
Volume :
478
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Journal of hazardous materials
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
39128155
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.135352