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Wolfe MK, Archana A, Catoe D, Coffman MM, Dorevich S, Graham KE, Kim S, Grijalva LM, Roldan-Hernandez L, Silverman AI, Sinnott-Armstrong N, Vugia DJ, Yu AT, Zambrana W, Wigginton KR, Boehm AB. Scaling of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Settled Solids from Multiple Wastewater Treatment Plants to Compare Incidence Rates of Laboratory-Confirmed COVID-19 in Their Sewersheds. Environ Sci Technol Lett 2021; 8:398-404. [PMID: 37566351 PMCID: PMC8056949 DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.1c00184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2021] [Revised: 04/06/2021] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Published and unpublished reports show that SARS-CoV-2 RNA in publicly owned treatment work (POTW) wastewater influent and solids is associated with new COVID-19 cases or incidence in associated sewersheds, but methods for comparing data collected from diverse POTWs to infer information about the relative incidence of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases, and scaling to allow such comparisons, have not been previously established. Here, we show that SARS-CoV-2 N1 and N2 concentrations in solids normalized by concentrations of PMMoV RNA in solids can be used to compare incidence of laboratory confirmed new COVID-19 cases across POTWs. Using data collected at seven POTWs along the United States West Coast, Midwest, and East Coast serving ∼3% of the U.S. population (9 million people), we show that a 1 log change in N gene/PMMoV is associated with a 0.24 (range 0.19 to 0.29) log10 change in incidence of laboratory confirmed COVID-19. Scaling of N1 and N2 by PMMoV is consistent, conceptually, with a mass balance model relating SARS-CoV-2 RNA to the number of infected individuals shedding virus in their stool. This information should support the application of wastewater-based epidemiology to inform the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and potentially future viral pandemics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marlene K. Wolfe
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford, California
94305, United States
| | - Anand Archana
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford, California
94305, United States
| | - David Catoe
- Joint Initiative for Metrology in Biology,
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford, California
94305, United States
| | - Mhara M. Coffman
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford, California
94305, United States
| | - Samuel Dorevich
- Division of Environmental and Occupational Health
Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Illinois,
Chicago, Illinois 60612, United States
| | - Katherine E. Graham
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford, California
94305, United States
| | - Sooyeol Kim
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford, California
94305, United States
| | - Lorelay Mendoza Grijalva
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford, California
94305, United States
| | - Laura Roldan-Hernandez
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford, California
94305, United States
| | - Andrea I. Silverman
- Department of Civil and Urban Engineering, Tandon
School of Engineering, New York University, Brooklyn, New York
11201, United States
- School of Global Public Health, New York
University, New York, New York 10003, United
States
| | - Nasa Sinnott-Armstrong
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University
School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305, United
States
| | - Duc J. Vugia
- Infectious Diseases Branch, California
Department of Public Health, Richmond, California 94804, United
States
| | - Alexander T. Yu
- Infectious Diseases Branch, California
Department of Public Health, Richmond, California 94804, United
States
| | - Winnie Zambrana
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford, California
94305, United States
| | - Krista R. Wigginton
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
University of Michigan,Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109,
United States
| | - Alexandria B. Boehm
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Stanford University, 473 Via Ortega, Stanford, California
94305, United States
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