Jessica Cavil, Bangore University
When we think about climate change, we can consider extreme weather events, “Record-breaking heatwaves, heavy fall and devastating floods. But have you assumed that these changes can also increase your risk of exposure to some viruses?
Now we live in the world where extreme weather events are common. Climate change may increase the chances of exposure to sewage -related viruses in rivers, lakes and coastal water, with prolonged rainfall and increasing frequency of heatwave. Overloading of rain water can also be urban sewer systems as a result of intense rain. As a result, raw untreated sewage is released into rivers, lakes and coastal water.
Newly published research I have supported to show that sewage viruses may persist for a few days in some season, which may increase health risk for people coming in contact with untreated outflow.
Raw sewage consists of human urine and excreta, and it has a rich weight of dead cells, food waste, pharmaceuticals, bacteria and viruses. Although most viruses are relatively harmless by humans, people infected with disease -causing viruses Anterovirus And Norovirus A € “shed can Arabs Every time of viral particles, they go to the toilet.
Even after the symptoms of the disease have passed, people can still shed a large amount of virus when they use toilets. They are then released in the sewer system, until they reach the sewage treatment plant, they flow through the network.
Excess of specific waste water treatment practices used in the UK 99% effective On removing the virus. But despite this efficiency, the treatment of wastewater discharged in the atmosphere still pose some risk. As a result, every day of the year, our rivers, lakes and seas receive potential harmful viruses.
However, the release of raw untreated sewage represents a much more severe risk.
Health risk from extreme weather
While Britain is long of rain, Climate estimate Also predict more heatwave like those people 2022Where the temperature reached a record high.
It is important for scientists how these extreme weather events will affect the virus related to sewage discharged in the environment. We already know that entertaining water users are exposed Entering water bodies for harmful pathogens as a direct result of sewage discharge and agricultural runoff.
What is not clear how the weather conditions affect the ability to infect the viruses, and whether climate change can make these risks worse. It is important to understand this to deal with increasing health challenges arising from extreme weather and sewage contamination.
To detect these questions, scientists require reliable methods to detect potential infectious viruses in the environment. This is not easy. Environmental samples often contain contaminants including various chemicals and bacteria, which can interfere with standard laboratory testing methods. These challenges make it difficult to correctly assess the presence and potential risk of harmful viruses in water sources.
To solve these challenges, my colleagues and I developed methods that filter the virus, are very damaged to cause infections. This approach ensured our data fully concentrated on a possible infectious virus in each sample. Our methods allowed us to identify several types of viruses simultaneously, making the process more efficient and wider.
We conducted a series of experiments to check how climate change affects the virus associated with sewage, and they pose risk to human health. These experiments were designed to simulate both short -term weather events, such as storms and long -term changes, including rising temperatures.
We introduced viruses related to sewage such as adenovirus and norovirus in the samples of river, mouth and seawater, and tracked how they are low in two weeks. In one experiment, we exposed the samples to different temperatures, while in the other, we imitated the risk of sunlight. In various intervals, we intact, potentially infectious virus levels to monitor their decline.
From this data, we calculated a € ât90 decay rates, which takes time to fall up to 90%in the viral load. These rates were measured separately for the virus, which is still capable of infection, and for those in all stages of decay. Interestingly, we found that the types of water “river, esturin or sea €” had little impact on how infectious or detectable virus in our analysis.
Surface virus A € “they that cause stomach upset,” remain infectious in seawater for three days at high temperatures as 30C. At the temperature of the cooler, they remained for a week long, for a week.
When it comes in contact with sunlight, the virus in water survived for less than 24 hours on a sunny day. But during the cloud days, they remained viable for about 2.5 days. These findings display important health risks generated by sewage -associated viruses in wastewater.
Advice
To reduce the risk of infection, our research suggests that people should avoid entertaining activities in water affected by sewage discharge for at least 2.5 days during the cloud season, and at least 24 hours after sunlight. And climate change can spoil the problem: some summer can see an increase in sewage contamination, especially after heavy rains after drought.
This issue is not limited to the UK, of course. Many countries continue to issue untreated or partially treated sewage in natural water, making it a global health concern.
Our research highlights the immediate requirement of better sewage treatment practices worldwide. It also shows the need of governments and health agencies to develop targeted risk management strategies that address the increasing dangers arising from climate change.
Jessica CavilPost-Doctoral Research Associate in School of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Bangore University
This article has been reinstated Conversation Under a Creative Commons License. read the Original article,
