Climate change is already beginning to change the environment in many ways, but scientists are also wary of the ripple effects that spread on human health. Now they are raising alarms about exposure to the virus that remains in the sewer as the world prepares for more frequent storms of this century.
new study Published in the journal Water Research Warn about virus transmission through sewage systems. This is a public health risk that can increase severity as stormwater continues to flow into lakes and rivers after a storm. To better understand the survival of viruses in water, researchers focused on a variety of environmental factors, such as weather conditions and salinity.
Viruses that start in sewer systems
Pathogenic viruses often enter Wastewater From the feces of infected people who can remove billions of viral particles when using the toilet. These often take the form of enteric viruses, which primarily affect the gastrointestinal tract and can cause symptoms such as diarrhea and nausea. This group of viruses includes adenoviruses, rotaviruses, and hepatitis A viruses.
Wastewater treatment plants can usually remove up to 99% of the impurities, but wastewater containing some viruses can be discharged into the environment. This has led to rising public health concerns as more extreme rainfall events are expected to condemn the planet in the coming years. As a result, sewer overflows become more common quickly, spreading pathogens into water bodies. What’s worse, summer hiking Heat waves In the future, it means that more people will flock to recreational water, exacerbating the possibility that they may be exposed to wastewater viruses to humans.
read more: A severe storm brings 16 billion tons of snow to Greenland and restores ice sheets
How sunlight can counteract the virus
The new study aims to investigate how salt and sunlight affect the survival of viruses in water. After introducing sewage-related viruses into river, estuary and seawater samples, researchers monitored the impact of these factors on viral disintegration. They specifically measured the T90 damping rate. This represents the time it takes for the virus to decrease by 90%.
Salinity experiments primarily resulted in virus disintegration depending on the type of virus, resulting in mixed results. Enteroviruses, for example, showed greater persistence in seawater, as higher salinity improves thermal stability. Overall, in dark conditions, most viruses survived longer in seawater compared to freshwater.
However, salt did not promote virus disintegration almost as much as sunlight. At temperatures of 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit), the intestinal virus remained infected in seawater for up to three days. Under cool temperatures, survival was extended to about a week. However, when the virus was exposed to sunlight, many of them did not survive long and attenuated within 24 hours. Meanwhile, the cloudy state caused the virus to remain viable for about 2.5 days.
“In the absence of sunlight, the persistence of the virus can be extended from days to weeks to weeks, poses continuous risks in shade or deep waters,” said Jessica Keville, an environmental virologist at Bangor University. statement. “When we added simulated sunlight to the mix, the presence of the virus was significantly reduced within 24-72 hours depending on the virus. This suggests that ultraviolet rays are one of the most effective natural viral inactivators, and have important implications for coastal water safety, especially after sewage runoff.”
In the unknown sea
Researchers advise that batches of environmental factors will affect future water quality assessments. UV radiation in particular can help limit the growth of water viruses, but scientists should consider escalating temperatures, changing cloud cover and changes salt Sea level rise could potentially remodel microbial communities in coastal environments.
However, in the long term, more efficient sewage treatment practices may allow pathogens to be pinched in the buds. This is an improvement that allows you to spend a day on the beach.
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Jack Knudson is Discover’s assistant editor with a strong interest in environmental science and history. Before taking part in the discovery in 2023, he studied journalism at Ohio University’s Scripps College of Communications and previously interned in Recycle Today’s Magazine.
