Researchers use the Coriolis µ air sampler to shed light on the presence of viral pathogens within Wastewater treatment centers thanks to a metagenomics approach.
Recently, there has been an increasing amount of interest in the study of occupational risks for Wastewater treatment center (WTC) workers. The microbiological contamination in wastewater samples is now relatively well-characterized thanks to a growing body of literature on the topic. However, even though most of the diseases affecting wastewater treatment centers are of viral origin, little is known regarding the presence of viruses in wastewater treatment center aerosols. Additionally, most WTC occupational risks are associated with viruses that are transmitted by aerosols, such as noroviruses and rotaviruses (that cause gastroenteritis), influenza, or adenovirus, rhinoviruses, and enteroviruses (responsible for the common cold).
This study, published in the Journal of Environmental Sciences, utilizes a novel metagenomic approach to characterize viral communities within wastewater treatment center aerosols. The Coriolis µ air sampler (Bertin Technologies, Montigny-les-Bretonneux, France) was used to collect samples from wastewater treatment facilities which were subsequently concentrated using tangential flow devices and used to conduct viral qPCR analysis.
