Exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in Aerosolized Wastewater: Toilet Flushing, Wastewater Treatment, and Sprinkler Irrigation

Usman, Muhammad; Farooq, Muhammad; Anastopoulos, Ioannis

doi:10.3390/w13040436

Cited by 20 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 37 publications

(56 reference statements)

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“…Some scholars even consider it to be the cause of community transmission with a major environmental concern ( Jones et al, 2020 ; Mohan et al, 2021 ). Moreover, it has been prompting from clinical research ( Pola et al, 2021 ) to a major public health concern ( Panchal et al, 2021a ; Usman et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: A Critical Review Of Related Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…After the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, the risk of fecal transmission in public toilets via bioaerosols has soon obtained attention by researchers both in hospital conditions (Ding et al, 2021) and other scenarios ( Schreck et al, 2021 ; Usman et al, 2021 ). This adds alternative explanations to the “traditional” respiratory droplets.…”

Section: A Critical Review Of Related Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Now, the contamination of the aquatic systems by the virus of SARS-CoV-2 and especially the health consequences of aerosolized wastewater ( Usman et al, 2021 ) have already become a major public health concern ( Panchal et al, 2021b ). Up till now, the viral RNA of SARS-CoV-2 has been detected in sewage with wastewater in many countries and regions around the globe, and even in surface waters in some places.…”

Section: A Critical Review Of Related Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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On the Critical Role of Human Feces and Public Toilets in the Transmission of COVID-19: Evidence from China

Wang

Liu

2021

Sustainable Cities and Society

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The surprising spread speed of the COVID-19 pandemic creates an urgent need for investigating the transmission chain or transmission pattern of COVID-19 beyond the traditional respiratory channels. This study therefore examines whether human feces and public toilets play a critical role in the transmission of COVID-19. First, it develops a theoretical model that simulates the transmission chain of COVID-19 through public restrooms. Second, it uses stabilized epidemic data from China to empirically examine this theory, conducting an empirical estimation using a two-stage least squares (2SLS) model with appropriate instrumental variables (IVs). This study confirms that the wastewater directly promotes the transmission of COVID-19 within a city. However, the role of garbage in this transmission chain is more indirect in the sense that garbage has a complex relationship with public toilets, and it promotes the transmission of COVID-19 within a city through interaction with public toilets and, hence, human feces. These findings have very strong policy implications in the sense that if we can somehow use the ratio of public toilets as a policy instrument, then we can find a way to minimize the total number of infections in a region. As shown in this study, pushing the ratio of public toilets to the local population in a city to its optimal level would help to reduce the total infection in a region.

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Section: A Critical Review Of Related Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: A Critical Review Of Related Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: A Critical Review Of Related Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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On the Critical Role of Human Feces and Public Toilets in the Transmission of COVID-19: Evidence from China

Wang

Liu

2021

Sustainable Cities and Society

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“…There is concern surrounding the risk of infection from inhalation of aerosolized NV and other viral pathogens ( e.g. , rotavirus, SARS-CoV-2) in various indoor settings ( e.g., hospital, restaurant, and long-term care facilities) 11 , 33 – 35 . This study is the first to identify a generation source for aerosolized MNV indoors, an NV surrogate.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determination of murine norovirus aerosol concentration during toilet flushing

Boles¹,

Brown

Nonnenmann

2021

Sci Rep

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Murine norovirus (MNV) was used as a surrogate for human viral pathogens (e.g., norovirus) to determine if toilet flushing resulted in the aerosolization of virus. A flushometer type toilet was seeded with a viral solution of 105 and 106 PFU mL-1 of MNV and then flushed. Upon flushing, two bioaerosol samplers were activated to collect aerosolized MNV. Prior to the experiment, two optical particle counters monitored particle size and number distribution of aerosol produced from flushing a toilet across height, position, and side. The location with the highest mean particle concentration, was behind the toilet and 0.15 m above the toilet bowl rim, which is where bioaerosol sampling occurred. Bioaerosol and toilet water samples were collected, extracted and then quantified using RT-ddPCR. The concentration of MNV collected after seeding the toilet water ranged from 2.18 × 105 to 9.65 × 106 total copies of MNV. Positive samples of airborne MNV were detected with collected concentrations ranging from 383 to 684 RNA copies/m3 of air. This study provides evidence that viral pathogens may be aerosolized when a toilet is flushed. Furthermore, the MNV used in this study is a model organism for human norovirus and may be generalizable to other viral pathogens (e.g., coronavirus). This study suggests that virus is aerosolized from toilet flushing and may contribute to human exposure to viral pathogens.

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“…Similarly, researchers have also raised concerns about the environmental transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in recreational water (Cahill and Morris 2020), river water (Guerrero-Latorre et al 2020). Similarly, the transmission of this virus remains a significant possibility when virus-laden aerosols are formed such as during toilet flushing, wastewater treatment and sprinkler irrigation (Bogler et al 2020;Usman et al 2021). A quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) of this virus was performed for workers at wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) for three COVID-19 scenarios (moderate, aggressive and extreme) (Zaneti et al 2021).…”

Section: Sars-cov-2 In Wastewater and Its Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19: The Challenges and Opportunities for Water, Air, Agriculture and Energy Sectors

Usman

Farooq

Jellali

et al. 2021

IJAB

Self Cite

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Here, we evaluate the COVID-19 associated challenges and opportunities surrounding the water, air, agriculture and energy sectors, the four major elements to sustain life on earth with strong implications on food security and the environment. During this pandemic, significant improvements in the quality of air and water resources have been noted. The tracking of SARS-CoV-2, the etiologic agent of COVID-19, in wastewater allowed wastewater-based epidemiology for this disease. However, the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater and the increased use of antimicrobials for personal hygiene and environmental disinfection can have serious consequences on the environment and public health. Air pollutants and greenhouse gases have been significantly reduced except for ozone that increased due to the decline in NOx. Tackling air pollution is important due to its role in spreading and worsening the COVID-19. Similarly, this pandemic has a strong impact on crop production systems, livestock industry, food supply chain and global food security. The zoonotic nature of this disease could change human interactions with wildlife and companion animals, but clear strategies are needed to safeguard both human health and biodiversity throughout the COVID-19 recovery. Owing to the advantages of renewable energy highlighted during COVID-19, suitable investments should be dedicated to cleaner and sustainable energy infrastructure in revival plans. © 2021 Friends Science Publishers

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Exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in Aerosolized Wastewater: Toilet Flushing, Wastewater Treatment, and Sprinkler Irrigation

Cited by 20 publications

References 37 publications

On the Critical Role of Human Feces and Public Toilets in the Transmission of COVID-19: Evidence from China

On the Critical Role of Human Feces and Public Toilets in the Transmission of COVID-19: Evidence from China

Determination of murine norovirus aerosol concentration during toilet flushing

COVID-19: The Challenges and Opportunities for Water, Air, Agriculture and Energy Sectors

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