Detection and disinfection of COVID-19 virus in wastewater

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019, COVID-19, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, SARS-CoV-2, appears as a major pandemic having adverse impact on public health and economic activities. Since viral replication in human enterocytes results in its faecal shedding, wastewater surveillance is an ideal, non-invasive, cost-effective and an early warning epidemiological approach to detect the genetic material of SARS-CoV-2. Here, we review techniques for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in municipal wastewater, and disinfectants used to control viral spread. For detection, concentration of ribonucleic acid involves ultrafiltration, ultracentrifugation and polyethylene glycol precipitation. Identification is done by reverse transcriptase amplification, nucleic acid sequence-based amplification, helicase dependent amplification, loop-mediated isothermal amplification, recombinase polymerase amplification, high throughput screening and biosensor assays. Disinfectants include ultraviolet radiations, ozone, chlorine dioxide, hypochlorites and hydrogen peroxide. Wastewater surveillance data indicates viral presence within longer detection window, and provides transmission dynamics earlier than classical methods. This is particularly relevant for pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19 cases.

A review on detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater in light of the current knowledge of treatment process for removal of viral fragments

“…As a result, the effectiveness and safety of the wastewater method for virus removal are dependent on the optimal selection of disinfectant dose and the duration of contact in the treatment process. The aqueous solutions of sodium hypochlorite in the range of 5.25%–6.15% are commonly used for disinfection, whereas the complete inactivation of SARS-CoV can be effectuated in less than 1 min by using 0.05% of hypochlorite solution ( Singh et al, 2021 ).…”

Spike in pollution to ignite the bursting of COVID-19 second wave is more dangerous than spike of SAR-CoV-2 under environmental ignorance in long term: a review

“…Similar to the airborne nature of COVID-19, water contamination and pollution with its causative agent, i.e. the RNA of SARS-CoV-2, were also noticed in wastewater and reservoirs (Singh et al 2021 ). Basically, water source is contaminated from the wastewater released from COVID-19 hospitals/care centres and from households where home isolation of infected people is adapted.…”

Can imported cold food cause COVID-19 recurrent outbreaks? A review

“…Since a lot of literatures have put forward the safety precautions about workers’ medical condition, personal hygiene and environmental conditions (Dai et al 2021 ; Lu et al 2020 ; Nakat and Bou-Mitri 2021 ; Rizou et al 2020 ), the “Make Protection”, “Work Environment”, “Be Healthy”, “Wash Hands” and “Social distance” will not be covered here. Many countries/ regions do not have the conditions of analyzing and tracing the local outbreaks caused by imported cold food chain, the safety precautions like detection and disinfection proposed (Choi et al 2021 ; Singh et al 2021 ; Wang et al 2020 ; Zucker et al 2021 ) are lack of pertinence and specific guidance. The feasibility and effectiveness need to be further verified.…”