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Review
. 2022 Mar:13:100211.
doi: 10.1016/j.mtadv.2022.100211. Epub 2022 Jan 25.

SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater: From detection to evaluation

Danwei Zhang  1 , Solco S Faye Duran  1 , Wei Yang Samuel Lim  1 , Chee Kiang Ivan Tan  1 , Wun Chet Davy Cheong  1 , Ady Suwardi  1 , Xian Jun Loh  1
Affiliations
Review

SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater: From detection to evaluation

Danwei Zhang et al. Mater Today Adv. 2022 Mar.

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 presence in wastewater has been reported in several studies and has received widespread attention among the Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) community. Such studies can potentially be used as a proxy for early warning of potential COVID-19 outbreak, or as a mitigation measure for potential virus transmission via contaminated water. In this review, we summarized the latest understanding on the detection, concentration, and evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater. Importantly, we discuss factors affecting the quality of wastewater surveillance ranging from temperature, pH, starting concentration, as well as the presence of chemical pollutants. These factors greatly affect the reliability and comparability of studies reported by various communities across the world. Overall, this review provides a broadly encompassing guidance for epidemiological study using wastewater surveillance.

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Conflict of interest statement

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.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
SARS-CoV-2 detection and quantification from wastewater sources as an infectious disease surveillance system for communities.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Typical virus concentration processes to concentrate Murine Hepatitis Virus (MHV), a surrogate for SARS-CoV-2, from wastewater. Figure reproduced with permission from Ref. [110]. Copyright Elsevier 2020.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
pH sensitivity of viruses at 37 °C and 4 °C. Data obtained from Refs. [[148], [149], [150], [151], [152], [153], [154], [155], [156], [157], [158], [159], [160], [161]].
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
An analogy of a possible data set collected by wastewater epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2. Viral load from wastewater concentration is calculated based on information and techniques used in Refs. [31,132,137]. The total concentration of viral RNA in wastewaters decreases with no new infections. An increase in total concentration of viral RNA in the wastewaters signify possible viral outbreak in community.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Schematic diagram for wastewater treatment process. Figure reproduced with permission from Ref. [28]. Copyright Elsevier 2020.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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