Quantitative microbial risk assessment of SARS-CoV-2 for workers in wastewater treatment plants.

Autor: Zaneti RN; DMAE - Municipal Water and Sewerage Department, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil., Girardi V; University of Feevale, Novo Hamburgo, RS, Brazil., Spilki FR; University of Feevale, Novo Hamburgo, RS, Brazil., Mena K; University of Texas - Houston School of Public Health, Houston, United States., Westphalen APC; DMAE - Municipal Water and Sewerage Department, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil., da Costa Colares ER; DMAE - Municipal Water and Sewerage Department, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil., Pozzebon AG; DMAE - Municipal Water and Sewerage Department, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil., Etchepare RG; UFPR - Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brazil. Electronic address: ramiro.etchepare@ufpr.br.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: The Science of the total environment [Sci Total Environ] 2021 Feb 01; Vol. 754, pp. 142163. Date of Electronic Publication: 2020 Sep 03.
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142163
Abstrakt: Faecal-oral transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is yet to be validated, but it is a critical issue and additional research is needed to elucidate the risks of the novel coronavirus in sanitation systems. This is the first study that investigates the potential health risks of SARS-CoV-2 in sewage to wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) workers. A quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) is applied for three COVID-19 scenarios (moderate, aggressive and extreme) to study the effects of different stages of the pandemic in terms of percentage of infected population on the probability of infection to WWTP workers. A dose-response model for SARS-CoV-1 (as a surrogate pathogen) is assumed in the QMRA for SARS-CoV-2 using an exponential model with k = 4.1 × 10 2 . Literature data are incorporated to inform assumptions for calculating the viral load, develop the model, and derive a tolerable infection risk. Results reveal that estimates of viral RNA in sewage at the entrance of WWTPs ranged from 4.14 × 10 1 to 5.23 × 10 3  GC·mL -1 (viable virus concentration from 0.04 to 5.23 PFU·mL -1 , respectively). In addition, estimated risks for the aggressive and extreme scenarios (2.6 × 10 -3 and 1.3 × 10 -2 , respectively) were likely to be above the derived tolerable infection risk for SARS-CoV-2 of 5.5 × 10 -4 pppy, thus reinforcing the concern of sewage systems as a possible transmission pathway of SARS-CoV-2. These findings are helpful as an early health warning tool and in prioritizing upcoming risk management strategies, such as Emergency Response Plans (ERPs) for water and sanitation operators during the COVID-19 and future pandemics.
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.
(Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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