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- All Subjects: Wastewater-Based Epidemiology
- Creators: Halden, Rolf RUH
Description
This dissertation critically evaluated methodologies and devices for assessing and protecting the health of human populations, with particular emphasis on groundwater remediation and the use of wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) to inform population health. A meta-analysis and assessment of laboratory-scale treatability studies for removing chlorinated solvents from groundwater found that sediment microcosms operated as continuous-flow columns are preferable to batch bottles when seeking to emulate with high fidelity the complex conditions prevailing in the subsurface in contaminated aquifers (Chapter 2). Compared to monitoring at the field-scale, use of column microcosms also showed (i) improved chemical speciation, and (ii) qualitative predictability of field parameters (Chapter 3). Monitoring of glucocorticoid hormones in wastewater of a university campus showed (i) elevated stress levels particularly at the start of the semester, (ii) on weekdays relative to weekend days (p = 0.05) (161 ± 42 μg d-1 per person, 122 ± 54 μg d-1 per person; p ≤ 0.05), and (iii) a positive association between levels of stress hormones and nicotine (rs: 0.49) and caffeine (0.63) consumption in this student population (Chapter 4). Also, (i) alcohol consumption determined by WBE was in line with literature estimates for this young sub-population (11.3 ± 7.5 g d-1 per person vs. 10.1 ± 0.8 g d-1 per person), whereas caffeine and nicotine uses were below (114 ± 49 g d-1 per person, 178 ± 19 g d-1 per person; 627 ± 219 g d-1 per person, 927 ± 243 g d-1 per person). The introduction of a novel continuous in situ sampler to WBE brought noted benefits relative to traditional time-integrated sampling, including (i) a higher sample coverage (93% vs. 3%), (ii) an ability to captured short-term analyte pulses (e.g., heroin, fentanyl, norbuprenorphine, and methadone), and (iii) an overall higher mass capture for drugs of abuse like morphine, fentanyl, methamphetamine, amphetamine, and the opioid antagonist metabolite norbuprenorphine (p ≤ 0.01). Methods and devices developed in this work are poised to find applications in the remediation sector and in human health assessments.
ContributorsDriver, Erin Michelle (Author) / Halden, Rolf (Thesis advisor) / Conroy-Ben, Otakuye (Committee member) / Kavazanjian, Edward (Committee member) / Krajmalnik-Brown, Rosa (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
As the return to normality in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic enters its early stages, the necessity for accurate, quick, and community-wide surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 has been emphasized. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has been used across the world as a tool for monitoring the pandemic, but studies of its efficacy in comparison to the best-known method for surveillance, randomly selected COVID-19 testing, has limited research. This study evaluated the trends and correlations present between SARS-CoV-2 in the effluent wastewater of a large university campus and random COVID-19 testing results published by the university. A moderately strong positive correlation was found between the random testing and WBE surveillance methods (r = 0.63), and this correlation was strengthened when accommodating for lost samples during the experiment (r = 0.74).
ContributorsWright, Jillian (Author) / Halden, Rolf (Thesis director) / Driver, Erin (Committee member) / School of Music, Dance and Theatre (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
This thesis focuses on applying wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) to inform the population health status by studying antimicrobials, polymers, and mental health drugs (antidepressants, benzodiazepines, and Z-drugs) from community ranging in size (1600 to 481,420 people) in near real-time. First, an increasing mass trend of antimicrobials (1,431 ± 22 mg/day/1000 people) in wastewater was found in Arizona, with no evidence suggestive of the possible reintroduction of personal care products banned by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ban during the pandemic (Chapter 2). Second, the use of mental health-related drugs (antidepressants, benzodiazepines, and Z-drugs) was estimated in community wastewater in the US and Mexico during the COVID-19 pandemic and compared against the prescription volume data obtained from the Medicaid database. Average mass consumption rates estimated using WBE ranged between 62 for Temazepam and 1,100 for Clonazepam in units of mg/day/1000 people in the United States. WBE data suggested an increase in Ketamine use (p < 0.05) during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020) relative to pre-pandemic time (2019). However, the volume of Ketamine uses as informed by prescription data did not increase suggesting illegal use of the drug might have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic (Chapter 3). I hypothesize that in addition to mental health drugs and antimicrobials, plastics also increase as a function of pandemic (Chapter 4). This necessitates an understanding of potential analytical challenges, which were investigated in Chapter 4 by conducting a literature review. An inventory of all the municipal wastewater treatment plants globally was created (Chapter 5). This study tabulated about107,000 in 129 countries serving 2.7 billion people (35% of the global population). This analysis suggests that about one-third of the world’s population could be reached by conducting WBE at centralized wastewater treatment plants. This dissertation demonstrates the utility of WBE in fields as diverse as tracking antimicrobials, substance misuse, and unsustainable materials such as plastics. WBE is broadly applicable to populations around the world to aide Sustainable Development Goals. The implementation of WBE in decision level from authority and stakeholders expedite the process of tracking community health against epidemic, infectious diseases and chemical exposure.
ContributorsAdhikari, Sangeet (Author) / Halden, Rolf RUH (Thesis advisor) / Borges, Chad CRB (Committee member) / Hamilton, Kerry KAH (Committee member) / Conroy Ben, Otakuye OCB (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022