Abstract
This study aimed to qualitatively and quantitatively assess the prevalence of the most common respiratory and gastrointestinal viruses in the air, surface swab, and influent/effluent samples collected in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Application of qPCR/RT-qPCR (quantitative polymerase chain reaction/reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction) assays combined with PMA (propidium monoazide) dye pretreatment allowed detecting the potentially infectious and disintegrated viral particles in collected samples. In the air at workplaces in WWTPs, the most frequent isolation with the highest concentrations (reaching up to 103 gc/m3 of potentially infectious intact viral particles) were observed in case of adenoviruses (AdVs) and rotaviruses (RoVs), followed by noroviruses (NoVs). Viruses were significantly more often detected in the air samples collected with Coriolis μ impinger, than with MAS-100NT impactor. The temperature negatively (Spearman correlation: –1 < R < 0; p < 0.05), while RH (relative humidity) positively (0 < R < 1; p < 0.05) affected airborne concentrations of potentially infectious viral particles. In turn, the predominant viruses on studied surfaces were RoVs and noroviruses GII (NoV GII) with concentrations of potentially infectious virions up to 104 gc/100 cm2. In the cases of SARS-CoV-2 and presumptive SARS-CoV-2 or other coronaviruses, their concentrations reached up to 103 gc/100 cm2. The contamination level of steel surfaces in WWTPs was similar to this on plastic ones. This study revealed that the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of respiratory and gastrointestinal viruses at workplaces in WWTPs is important for proper exposure assessment and needs to be included in risk management in occupational environment with high abundance of microbial pollutants derived from wastewater.
Highlights
This study aimed to qualitatively and quantitatively assess the prevalence of the most common respiratory and gastrointestinal viruses in the air, surface swab, and influent/effluent samples collected in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs)
The aim of this research was to assess the prevalence of these viruses in the air, surface swab and influent/effluent wastewater samples collected in WWTPs with quantitative PCR (qPCR)/RT-qPCR assays combined with Propidium monoazide (PMA) dye pretreatment to discriminate potentially infectious and disintegrated viral particles in collected samples
Among the air samples collected with Coriolis μ impinger, 46.2% were AdV positive, 34.6% RoV positive, 23.1% noroviruses genogroup II (GII) (NoV GII) positive, 15.4% NoV genogroup I (GI) positive, 11.5% presumptive SARS-CoV-2 or other coronaviruses positive, and 7.7% human bocavirus (HBoV) positive, while in case of MAS-100NT impactor, 30.8% were AdV positive, and 19.2% RoV positive and presumptive SARS-CoV-2 or other coronaviruses positive
Summary
This study aimed to qualitatively and quantitatively assess the prevalence of the most common respiratory and gastrointestinal viruses in the air, surface swab, and influent/effluent samples collected in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). In the air at workplaces in WWTPs, the most frequent isolation with the highest concentrations (reaching up to 103 gc/m3 of potentially infectious intact viral particles) were observed in case of adenoviruses (AdVs) and rotaviruses (RoVs), followed by noroviruses (NoVs). The predominant viruses on studied surfaces were RoVs and noroviruses GII (NoV GII) with concentrations of potentially infectious virions up to 104 gc/100 cm[2]. AdVs (dsDNA; non-enveloped; 70–100 nm; the Adenoviridae family) have been reported to be the second most important viral pathogens of gastroenteritis after rotaviruses; depending on the species, they can be responsible for different infections, including respiratory and ocular ones as well as meningitis, encephalitis, and hepatitis[4,19–22]. The human bocavirus is often present in specimens from healthy individuals and is frequently found in fecal samples containing other welldefined viral pathogens such as HAdVs, NoVs, and R oVs24
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