Exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in Aerosolized Wastewater: Toilet Flushing, Wastewater Treatment, and Sprinkler Irrigation
1
PEIE Research Chair for the Development of Industrial Estates and Free Zones, Center for Environmental Studies and Research, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat Al-Khoud 123, Oman
2
Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Jhang, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore 531, Pakistan
3
Department of Plant Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat Al-Khoud 123, Oman
4
Department of Electronics Engineering, School of Engineering, Hellenic Mediterranean University, 73100 Chania, Crete, Greece
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Pankaj Kumar
Water 2021, 13(4), 436; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13040436
Received: 25 December 2020 / Revised: 4 February 2021 / Accepted: 5 February 2021 / Published: 8 February 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Water Quality Assessments for Urban Water Environment)
The existence of SARS-CoV-2, the etiologic agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), in wastewater raises the opportunity of tracking wastewater for epidemiological monitoring of this disease. However, the existence of this virus in wastewater has raised health concerns regarding the fecal–oral transmission of COVID-19. This short review is intended to highlight the potential implications of aerosolized wastewater in transmitting this virus. As aerosolized SARS-CoV-2 could offer a more direct respiratory pathway for human exposure, the transmission of this virus remains a significant possibility in the prominent wastewater-associated bioaerosols formed during toilet flushing, wastewater treatment, and sprinkler irrigation. Implementing wastewater disinfection, exercising precautions, and raising public awareness would be essential. Additional research is needed to evaluate the survival, fate, and dissemination of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater and the environment and rapid characterization of aerosols and their risk assessment.
View Full-Text
Keywords:
SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; bioaerosol; aerosolized wastewater; environmental transmission; agriculture
▼
Show Figures
Figure 1
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Usman, M.; Farooq, M.; Farooq, M.; Anastopoulos, I. Exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in Aerosolized Wastewater: Toilet Flushing, Wastewater Treatment, and Sprinkler Irrigation. Water 2021, 13, 436. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13040436
AMA Style
Usman M, Farooq M, Farooq M, Anastopoulos I. Exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in Aerosolized Wastewater: Toilet Flushing, Wastewater Treatment, and Sprinkler Irrigation. Water. 2021; 13(4):436. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13040436
Chicago/Turabian StyleUsman, Muhammad; Farooq, Muhammad; Farooq, Muhammad; Anastopoulos, Ioannis. 2021. "Exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in Aerosolized Wastewater: Toilet Flushing, Wastewater Treatment, and Sprinkler Irrigation" Water 13, no. 4: 436. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13040436
Find Other Styles
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
Search more from Scilit
