Calibration of Methods for Sars-CoV-2 Environmental Surveillance

A Case Study from Northwest Tuscany

Bibliographic Data

ID15479218
AuthorsMarco Verani (0000-0003-4078-5108, University of Pisa), Ileana Federigi (0000-0002-3890-8546, University of Pisa, corresponding author), Sara Muzio (University of Pisa), Giulia Lauretani (University of Pisa), Piergiuseppe Calà (Agenzia Regionale di Sanità della Toscana), Fabrizio Mancuso (0000-0002-9705-3306, Ingegnerie Toscane-Area R&D, Via Bellatalla 1, 56121 Pisa, Italy), Roberto Salvadori (Acque S.p.A., Via A. Bellatalla 1, 56121 Pisa, Italy), Claudia Valentini (Gaia S.p.A., Via Donizetti 16, 55045 Pietrasanta, Italy), Giuseppina La Rosa (0000-0002-2657-100X, Istituto Superiore di Sanità), Elisabetta Suffredini (0000-0001-7605-0539, Istituto Superiore di Sanità), Annalaura Carducci (0000-0003-0131-053X, University of Pisa)
Year2022
Volume19
Issue24
Pages16588-16588
Publication date2022-12-09
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1661-7827 • E-ISSN: 1660-4601
PublisherMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3390/ijerph192416588
PMID36554466
OpenAlexW4311133825
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited23

The current pandemic has provided an opportunity to test wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) as a complementary method to SARS-CoV-2 monitoring in the community. However, WBE infection estimates can be affected by uncertainty factors, such as heterogeneity in analytical procedure, wastewater volume, and population size. In this paper, raw sewage SARS-CoV-2 samples were collected from four wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Tuscany (Northwest Italy) between February and December 2021. During the surveillance period, viral concentration was based on polyethylene glycol (PEG), but its precipitation method was modified from biphasic separation to centrifugation. Therefore, in parallel, the recovery efficiency of each method was evaluated at lab-scale, using two spiking viruses (human coronavirus 229E and mengovirus vMC 0 ). SARS-CoV-2 genome was found in 80 (46.5%) of the 172 examined samples. Lab-scale experiments revealed that PEG precipitation using centrifugation had the best recovery efficiency (up to 30%). Viral SARS-CoV-2 load obtained from sewage data, adjusted by analytical method and normalized by population of each WWTP, showed a good association with the clinical data in the study area. This study highlights that environmental surveillance data need to be carefully analyzed before their use in the WBE, also considering the sensibility of the analytical methods

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Disease · Environmental health · Population · Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 · Sewage · Sewage treatment · Veterinary medicine · Wastewater · Biosensors and Analytical Detection · Environmental Science · Medicine · SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research · SARS-CoV-2 detection and testing · Environmental Engineering

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