Overview about viruses in the aerosol of the wastewater treatment plants

El-Senousy, Waled Morsy; AbdAllah, Esraa H. K.; Hasan, Seham F.; Sidkey, Nagwa M.

doi:10.21608/ijtar.2025.380141.1123

Overview about viruses in the aerosol of the wastewater treatment plants

Document Type : Review articles

Authors

¹ Environmental Virology Lab, Water Pollution Research Department, Environment and Climate Change Research Institute, and Food-Borne Viruses Group, Centre of Excellence for Advanced Sciences, National Research Centre (NRC), Dokki, Giza, Egypt.

² Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University (Girls Branch), Yossuf Abbas st., P.O. 11754, Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt

10.21608/ijtar.2025.380141.1123

Abstract

The first objective of this study is to introduce summary about factors affect respiratory and enteric viruses viability in aerosols in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Also, to determine the health hazards for workers in WWTPs and their contacts and how to protect them and control viral spreading through their activities. The third objective is to make analysis about the efficiency of different concentration methods of viruses from aerosol samples. The review summarized sources of viruses in wastewater, such as human excreta from infected individuals, animal waste, and untreated hospital wastewater in some developing countries and also the role of runoff to transport viral contaminants from land to sewage systems. Also, the effect of environmental factors in treatment plants, such as relative humidity, temperature, wind speed, and the effect of natural UV were emphasized as crucial determinants in the viability of viruses in the aerosols. The study also highlighted the health risks associated with aerosolized viral exposure to wastewater treatment workers, including respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases and preventive measures such as the emergency response plans (ERPs) and personal protective equipment (PPE) as recommended tools of protection. Data about the efficiency of different sampling methods (active and passive) to concentrate viruses in aerosol on wastewater were summarized in this review. In conclusion, development of concentration methods of viruses in aerosol is a great need to increase the accuracy of qualitative and quantitative methods. Also more research is needed to determine the best viral index for respiratory and enteric viruses in aerosols.

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