Assessment of airborne virus contamination in wastewater treatment plants

Masclaux, Frédéric G.; Hotz, Peter Eggenberger; Gashi, Drita; Savova-Bianchi, Dessislava; Oppliger, Anne

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2014.06.002

Cited by 96 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…While other studies have reported concentrations of airborne bacteria around WWTPs, 24,27,30,32 fewer have focused on airborne viruses. 34,40 Our results show that viable virus can be aerosolized from an aeration basin. By reporting results not just as concentrations but also as emission rates, they can be extended to other scenarios.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

“…33 Another study characterized bioaerosols generated in sewage systems indirectly by measuring endotoxin concentrations; endotoxins are a cell wall component of Gram-negative bacteria. 34,35 Up to 80 ng m -3 of endotoxin were detected in the air samples. To our knowledge, there are no studies on aerosolization of viruses in sewers.…”

Section: Potential For Aerosol Transmission Via Wastewatermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, few studies have focused on aerosolization of viruses in wastewater systems. [33][34][35] Aerosolization of bacteria versus viruses could be significantly different due to dissimilarities in their size, structure, and concentration in wastewater. One important difference is that bacteria partition mainly to biosolids while viruses remain suspended in the liquid.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Aerosolization of Ebola Virus Surrogates in Wastewater Systems

Lin

Marr

2017

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Academic AbstractRecent studies have shown that Ebola virus can persist in wastewater, and the potential for the virus to be aerosolized and pose a risk of inhalation exposure has not been evaluated.We considered this risk for three wastewater systems: toilets, a lab-scale model of an aeration basin, and a lab-scale model of converging sewer pipes. We measured the aeroso l size distribution generated by each system, spiked Ebola virus surrogates into each system, and determined the emission rate of viruses into the air. While the number of aerosols released ranged from 10 5 to 10 7 per flush from the toilets or per minute from the lab-scale models, the total volume of aerosols generated by these systems was ~10 -8 to 10 -7 mL per flush or per minute in all cases. The Ebola virus surrogates MS2 and Phi6, spiked into toilets at an initial concentration of 10 7 PFU mL -1 , were not detected in air after flushing.Airborne concentrations of MS2 and Phi6 were ~20 PFU L -1 and ~0.1 PFU L -1 , respectively, associated with the aeration basin and sewer models. This corresponds to emission rates of 547 PFU min -1 and 3.8 PFU min -1 of MS2 and Phi6, respectively, for the aeration basin and 79 PFU min -1 and 0.3 PFU min -1 for the sewer model. Since informa tio n on the aerosolization of Ebola virus is quite limited, these emission rates can greatly help inform risk assessment of inhalation exposure to Ebola virus.iii

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

Section: Potential For Aerosol Transmission Via Wastewatermentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Aerosolization of Ebola Virus Surrogates in Wastewater Systems

Lin

Marr

2017

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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“…Despite the importance of this route of transmission, surprisingly few studies have examined the potential exposure of WTC workers to pathogenic viruses through the air. Moreover, in these studies, only one or two viruses were analyzed (Romano et al, 1999;Uhrbrand et al, 2011;Masclaux et al, 2014). In Denmark WTCs, noroviruses (Noro) GI and GII were detected for the first time in air samples using personal samplers (Uhrbrand et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human viral pathogens are pervasive in wastewater treatment center aerosols

Brisebois

Veillette²,

Dion-Dupont

et al. 2018

Journal of Environmental Sciences

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Wastewater treatment center (WTC) workers may be vulnerable to diseases caused by viruses, such as the common cold, influenza and gastro-intestinal infections. Although there is a substantial body of literature characterizing the microbial community found in wastewater, only a few studies have characterized the viral component of WTC aerosols, despite the fact that most diseases affecting WTC workers are of viral origin and that some of these viruses are transmitted through the air. In this study, we evaluated in four WTCs the presence of 11 viral pathogens of particular concern in this milieu and used a metagenomic approach to characterize the total viral community in the air of one of those WTCs. The presence of viruses in aerosols in different locations of individual WTCs was evaluated and the results obtained with four commonly used air samplers were compared. We detected four of the eleven viruses tested, including human adenovirus (hAdV), rotavirus, hepatitis A virus (HAV) and Herpes Simplex virus type 1 (HSV1). The results of the metagenomic assay uncovered very few viral RNA sequences in WTC aerosols, however sequences from human DNA viruses were in much greater relative abundance.

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“…, ; Masclaux et al . ). However, more data regarding which type of filter‐based sampler and filter material that result in the best collection and recovery of NoV is warranted.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Evaluation of air samplers and filter materials for collection and recovery of airborne norovirus

et al. 2017

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Aims The aim of this study was to identify the most efficient sampling method for quantitative PCR‐based detection of airborne human norovirus (NoV). Methods and Results A comparative experiment was conducted in an aerosol chamber using aerosolized murine norovirus (MNV) as a surrogate for NoV. Sampling was performed using a nylon (NY) filter in conjunction with four kinds of personal samplers: Gesamtstaubprobenahme sampler (GSP), Triplex‐cyclone sampler (TC), 3‐piece closed‐faced Millipore cassette (3P) and a 2‐stage NIOSH cyclone sampler (NIO). In addition, sampling was performed using the GSP sampler with four different filter types: NY, polycarbonate (PC), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and gelatine (GEL). The sampling efficiency of MNV was significantly influenced by both sampler and filter type. The GSP sampler was found to give significantly (P < 0·05) higher recovery of aerosolized MNV than 3P and NIO. A higher recovery was also found for GSP compared with TC, albeit not significantly. Finally, recovery of aerosolized MNV was significantly (P < 0·05) higher using NY than PC, PTFE and GEL filters. Conclusions The GSP sampler combined with a nylon filter was found to be the best method for personal filter‐based sampling of airborne NoV. Significance and Impact of the Study The identification of a suitable NoV air sampler is an important step towards studying the association between exposure to airborne NoV and infection.

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Assessment of airborne virus contamination in wastewater treatment plants

Abstract: Concentrations of potentially pathogenic viral particles in WWTP air are non-negligible and could partly explain the work-related gastrointestinal symptoms often reported in employees in this sector.

Cited by 96 publications

References 49 publications

Aerosolization of Ebola Virus Surrogates in Wastewater Systems

Aerosolization of Ebola Virus Surrogates in Wastewater Systems

Human viral pathogens are pervasive in wastewater treatment center aerosols

Evaluation of air samplers and filter materials for collection and recovery of airborne norovirus

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