Overview of Research on the Fate and Behavior of Enveloped Viruses in the Environment A large majority of studies on the environmental sources, fate, and transport of viruses have focused on non-enveloped viruses such as norovirus and enteroviruses. More recent high profile, global outbreaks of viral diseases have been caused by enveloped viruses including viruses from the Coronavirus family (SARS, MERS, COVID-19). Enveloped viruses feature a lipid membrane surrounding their protein capsid and genome. Lack of knowledge on the presence of infective enveloped viruses in human waste, the environmental fate and transport of enveloped viruses, best practices to disinfect surfaces and water, wash contaminated body parts, and treat wastewater and feces to removal enveloped viruses, has hampered outbreak response. Research into the environmental persistence and routes of transmission of SARS, MERS, and COVID-19 is further complicated by safety concerns of working with high-risk viruses. Limited direct research is therefore available on the environmental persistence of viruses in the Coronavirus family. The majority of research has been conducted on enveloped ‘surrogate’ viruses. This collection of studies published in ES&T and ES&T Letters provides insight into current state of knowledge on the persistence and behavior of enveloped viruses in the environment. Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, much of the research has been conducted using surrogate enveloped viruses that have similar properties to the human enveloped virus, COVID-19, currently of urgent interest. Since the global outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020, new research on this virus has been ongoing providing invaluable information and insights on its potential environmental fate and transport. A key area of environmental research is wastewater epidemiology, to rapidly identify and track new outbreaks at the population level. Additional research areas include investigating the transmission and inactivation of airborne viruses in aerosols, inactivation mechanisms that may occur during common water disinfection procedures, the potential for secondary transmission of the virus via aerosolization from wastewater and further human exposure through inhalation, the effectiveness of the cleanup of virus-contaminated surfaces, and the fate of land-filled infectious waste. Other key areas of environmental research include the impact on air quality resulting from COVID-19 lockdowns, the decontamination and sustainable reuse of PPE and respirator equipment, and impacts to the water-energy nexus due to demand change during the pandemic. Guest Editors: Alexandria Boehm (Stanford University, USA) and Krista Wigginton (University of Michigan, USA)

Articles

State of Knowledge on Virus Survival in the Environment and Wastewater Treatment Media and Research Needs Wastewater-Based Epidemiology: Global Collaborative to Maximize Contributions in the Fight Against COVID-19 Aaron Bivins

, Devin North

, Arslan Ahmad

, Warish Ahmed

, Eric Alm

, Frederic Been

, Prosun Bhattacharya

, Lubertus Bijlsma

, Alexandria B. Boehm

, Joe Brown

, Gianluigi Buttiglieri

, Vincenza Calabro

, Annalaura Carducci

, Sara Castiglioni

, Zeynep Cetecioglu Gurol

, Sudip Chakraborty

, Federico Costa

, Stefano Curcio

, Francis L. de los Reyes

, Jeseth Delgado Vela

, Kata Farkas

, Xavier Fernandez-Casi

, Charles Gerba

, Daniel Gerrity

, Rosina Girones

, Raul Gonzalez

, Eiji Haramoto

, Angela Harris

, Patricia A. Holden

, Md. Tahmidul Islam

, Davey L. Jones

, Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern

, Masaaki Kitajima

, Nadine Kotlarz

, Manish Kumar

, Keisuke Kuroda

, Giuseppina La Rosa

, Francesca Malpei

, Mariana Mautus

, Sandra L. McLellan

, Gertjan Medema

, John Scott Meschke

, Jochen Mueller

, Ryan J. Newton

, David Nilsson

, Rachel T. Noble

, Alexander van Nuijs

, Jordan Peccia

, T. Alex Perkins

, Amy J. Pickering

, Joan Rose

, Gloria Sanchez

, Adam Smith

, Lauren Stadler

, Christine Stauber

, Kevin Thomas

, Tom van der Voorn

, Krista Wigginton

, Kevin Zhu

, and Kyle Bibby* Environ. Sci. Technol. 54, 13, 7754-7757

This viewpoint article highlights the potential benefits of wastewater epidemiology and the detection of COVID-19 virus in wastewater. The authors discuss how following detections of the virus in wastewater provides information on both asymptomatic and oligosymptomatic infections that are unlikely to be detected by clinical survey, and can be used to determine the rate of undiagnosed infections at the population level. This is critical information for refining estimates of case-fatality rates. It also has application as a rapid tool to monitor SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks in a given community.

Environmental Engineers and Scientists Have Important Roles to Play in Stemming Outbreaks and Pandemics Caused by Enveloped Viruses Krista R. Wigginton*

and Alexandria B. Boehm Environ. Sci. Technol. 54, 7, 3736-3739

This just-published viewpoint highlights the vital scientific contributions environmental scientists and environmental engineers will need to develop further to stem the survival and transmission of enveloped viral pandemics in air, water and human wastes.

An Imperative Need for Research on the Role of Environmental Factors in Transmission of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Guangbo Qu

, Xiangdong Li

, Ligang Hu

, and Guibin Jiang* Environ. Sci. Technol. 54, 7, 3730-3732

This just-published viewpoint examines the interdisciplinary research needed to understand the complex interplays of environmental factors influencing the survival, transmission and severity of human responses to novel infectious diseases, with a call for urgent, multi-disciplinary, collaborative research efforts.

Can a Paper-Based Device Trace COVID-19 Sources with Wastewater-Based Epidemiology? Kang Mao

, Hua Zhang*

, and Zhugen Yang* Environ. Sci. Technol. 54, 7, 3733-3735

This just-published viewpoint describes a novel approach to overcoming the current logistical challenge of rapid and effective screening of mass numbers of the population to determine numbers of infected individuals. Using a multi-faceted paper-based screening tool, the presence of a virus can be detected in wastewaters to provide rapid and real-time community infection statistics, aiding the quick and effective implementation of quarantine measures at the local scale.

Research Needs for Wastewater Handling in Virus Outbreak Response Kyle Bibby*

, Nathalia Aquino de Carvalho

, and Krista Wigginton Environ. Sci. Technol. 51, 5, 2534-2535

This viewpoint article lays out the current state of knowledge on the fate and behavior of viruses from the input of infectious human waste (blood, vomit, feces) into the wastewater system. The researchers note that future work should focus on key research areas such as developing mechanistic models of inactivation of viruses in the environment; identifying the role of pH, ammonia, biological activity, temperature and solids found in wastewater matrices; understanding the role of viral lipid envelopes play in inactivation mechanisms; understanding exposure and transmission pathways in the wastewater environment, including release from sewer overflows; the impact of wastewater treatment processes on viral survival and secondary aerosolization; and working with multiple surrogate enveloped viruses simultaneously to uncover the high variability in enveloped virus survival rates.

Presence of SARS-Coronavirus-2 RNA in Sewage and Correlation with Reported COVID-19 Prevalence in the Early Stage of the Epidemic in The Netherlands Gertjan Medema*

, Leo Heijnen

, Goffe Elsinga

, Ronald Italiaander

, and Anke Brouwer Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett. 7, 7, 511-516

This Letter article reports the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in sewage samples collected in The Netherlands from six cities and the airport during February and March 2020, as the outbreak started to spread in the country. The researchers report increasing detections of gene fragments of the virus in sewage that correlated with the increase in reported COVID-19 prevalence in the local communities. The research confirms that sewage surveillance could be a sensitive tool to monitor the presence and circulation of the virus in the population.

Potential Sensitivity of Wastewater Monitoring for SARS-CoV-2: Comparison with Norovirus Cases Akihiko Hata

and Ryo Honda* Environ. Sci. Technol. 54, 11, 6451-6452

This Viewpoint Article confirms the importance of environmental surveillance of wastewater as an important early warning tool for rapidly detecting outbreaks of the virus in the population, regardless of outward symptoms, and for onward surveillance of the spread of the virus. The researchers recommend case studies in different countries to confirm the sensitivity and reliability of SARS-CoV-2 detection in sewage. The authors also recommend correlation between the viral loads of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater and the number of confirmed infection cases of COVID-19.

This viewpoint article raises the issue of the survival and transmission of COVID-19 on surfaces such as reusable plastic bags and the increase in production of single-use plastic bags by the plastics industry in response to the pandemic. The viewpoint highlights the lack of robust research data available to substantiate the claims that reusable plastic bags present a high transmission risk, and points to published evidence that COVID-19 die-off on dry surfaces is rapid over time, with approximately a 90% loss over the first 24 hours.

Air-Quality Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts of Modifiable Factors on Ambient Air Pollution: A Case Study of COVID-19 Shutdowns Rebecca Tanzer-Gruener

, Jiayu Li

, S. Rose Eilenberg

, Allen L. Robinson

, and Albert A. Presto* Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett. 7, 8, 554-559

This article air quality changes as a result of the reduction in traffic and business emissions during the main COVID-19 lockdown period, in Pennsylvania, USA. The study compared concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ), carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) from the post-COVID_19 shutdown period (March 14- April 30, 2020) to ‘business as usual’ periods in 2019 and 2020 in Pennsylvania, USA.

Dispersion Normalized PMF Provides Insights into the Significant Changes in Source Contributions to PM 2.5 after the COVID-19 Outbreak Qili Dai

, Baoshuang Liu

, Xiaohui Bi

, Jianhui Wu

, Danni Liang

, Yufen Zhang

, Yinchang Feng*

, and Philip K. Hopke* Environ. Sci. Technol. 54, 16, 9917-9927

These researchers investigated the source apportionment of PM 2.5 in Tianjin, China, from January 1 2020 to February 15 2020, following the outbreak of COVID-19 and changes in emissions, using dispersion-normalized positive matrix factorization to reduce the influence of meteorology.

Four-Month Changes in Air Quality during and after the COVID-19 Lockdown in Six Megacities in China Yunjie Wang

, Yifan Wen

, Yue Wang

, Shaojun Zhang*

, K. Max Zhang

, Haotian Zheng

, Jia Xing

, Ye Wu

, and Jiming Hao Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett.

These researchers used a machine learning technique to analyze the air quality impacts of the COVID-19 lockdown from January to April 2020 for six megacities in China with different lockdown durations.

Substantial Changes in Nitrogen Dioxide and Ozone after Excluding Meteorological Impacts during the COVID-19 Outbreak in Mainland China Yanbin Zhao

, Kun Zhang*

, Xiaotian Xu

, Huizhong Shen*

, Xi Zhu

, Yanxu Zhang

, Yongtao Hu

, and Guofeng Shen Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett. 7, 6, 402-408

This Letter Article studied the changes in national air quality in mainland China during the period of strict travel restrictions imposed by the Chinese Government in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The concentrations of six air pollutants were monitored (PM 2.5 , PM 10 , CO, SO 2 , NO 2 , O 3 ) at 1632 monitoring sites across 361 cities in 31 Chinese provinces. The researchers report the changing concentrations of the pollutants monitored was due to a combination of reduced emissions and meteorological conditions. Concentrations of NO 2 decreased significantly, O 3 was observed to increase, while concentrations of PM 2.5 , PM 10 , CO, and SO 2 did not decline significantly during the travel restriction period.

Survival of Feces-Excreted Enveloped Viruses during Wastewater Treatment and Purification Procedures and Subsequent Re-release to the Environment The Importance of Sewage Archiving in Coronavirus Epidemiology and Beyond Jan Dolfing* Environ. Sci. Technol. 54, 13, 7740-7741

This letter to the editor is a call for researchers working in sewage surveillance to retain and archive their samples to allow retrospective analysis in the future to track and trace the causative agent of COVID-19. Archived sewage samples may be vital to trace the spread of the virus retrospectively through phylogenetic analysis of sequences in sewage samples to infer vial ancestry. Archived samples may also help to shed light on the development and spread of antibiotic resistance genes in soils.

Survivability, Partitioning, and Recovery of Enveloped Viruses in Untreated Municipal Wastewater Yinyin Ye

, Robert M. Ellenberg

, Katherine E. Graham

, and Krista R. Wigginton* Environ. Sci. Technol. 50, 10, 5077-5085

The genes of enveloped viruses such as coronaviruses have been detected in the feces of infected individuals and in wastewater biosolids, but the survival of enveloped viruses is largely unknown. Investigating the longevity of human-enveloped viruses in human excrement is therefore an important area of research. This paper investigated the inactivation rates of human enveloped virus surrogates mouse coronavirus MHV and bacteriophage Φ6 and two non-enveloped bacteriophages in pasteurized and non-pasteurized wastewater. The paper describes methods to preserve, extract and concentrate enveloped and non-enveloped viruses from wastewaters and solid wastes in order to study their persistence and inactivation times in these matrices.

Evaluation of Phi6 Persistence and Suitability as an Enveloped Virus Surrogate Nathalia Aquino de Carvalho

, Elyse N. Stachler

, Nicole Cimabue

, and Kyle Bibby* Environ. Sci. Technol. 51, 15, 8692-8700

There is mounting evidence that human-enveloped viruses, including members of the Coronavirus family SARS and MERS, can survive in the urban water cycle following release from infectious patient waste, ranging from a few hours to months depending on the environmental conditions. This study highlights the variability in survival and persistence of an enveloped bacteriophage Phi6, a human coronavirus surrogate, under aqueous conditions. The study confirmed that the enveloped phage, Phi6, displayed different persistence behavior in aqueous environmental samples depending on the temperature, biological activity and aqueous media composition. The study highlights the value of working with the virus of interest for environmental persistence studies due to the high variability in survivability in different environments.

Censored Regression Modeling To Predict Virus Inactivation in Wastewaters Julii Brainard

, Katherine Pond

, and Paul R. Hunter* Environ. Sci. Technol. 51, 3, 1795-1801

There is increasing scientific evidence that the survival and persistence of human-enveloped viruses released into the environment are highly variable. Survival in wastewater and aqueous environments is dependent on multiple factors. This paper developed a simple regression model based on published experimental data to begin to predict the survival rates of enveloped viruses in wastewater and similar matrices. They used a number of variables in the regression model including genome type, enveloped status, primary transmission pathway, temperature and matrix contamination. This may prove a useful starting point in understanding the behavior of little-studied pathogens in the environment.

Reactivity of Enveloped Virus Genome, Proteins, and Lipids with Free Chlorine and UV 254 Yinyin Ye

, Pin Hsuan Chang

, John Hartert

, and Krista R. Wigginton* Environ. Sci. Technol. 52, 14, 7698-7708

The presence and longevity of enveloped viruses such as coronaviruses through wastewater and drinking water treatment plants requires an understanding of the effectiveness of water disinfection procedures, such as chlorination and UV treatment. This paper presents research on the inactivation mechanisms of surrogate enveloped bacteriophage, Phi6, during chlorination and UV 254 water disinfection treatments. The research revealed chlorination inactivated the enveloped virus via reaction with its proteins, whereas UV 254 treatments inactivated Phi6 primarily by reacting with the virus genome. Specifically, they found reactive amino acids in the Phi6 proteins rendered it more susceptible to free chlorine than MS2, a model nonenveloped virus.

Nucleic Acid Photolysis by UV 254 and the Impact of Virus Encapsidation Zhong Qiao

, Yinyin Ye

, Pin Hsuan Chang

, Devibaghya Thirunarayanan

, and Krista R. Wigginton* Environ. Sci. Technol. 52, 18, 10408-10415

This paper investigates the susceptibility of nucleic acids to UV 254 treatment in single and double-stranded RNA and DNA. The research highlights that single-stranded RNA (such as coronavirus genomes) is more labile to UV treatment than double-stranded RNA. The researchers also reported that incorporation of the nucleic acids within the virus capsids and envelopes showed little impact on direct photolysis rates of single and double-stranded genomes.

Inactivation of an Enveloped Surrogate Virus in Human Sewage Lisa M. Casanova*

Scott R. Weaver Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett. 2, 3, 76-78

Understanding the survival of enveloped viruses in human excrement is important for outbreak responses. This paper investigated the survival of the surrogate enveloped bacteriophage, Φ6, that was incubated in pasteurized human sewage at different temperatures over a 9-day period. The research confirmed inactivation was much more rapid at higher temperatures (30oC compared to 22oC), with 99.9% inactivation at both temperatures in less than 6 days.

Persistence of Ebola Virus in Sterilized Wastewater Kyle Bibby*

, Robert J. Fischer

, Leonard W. Casson

, Elyse Stachler

, Charles N. Haas

, and Vincent J. Munster* Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett. 2, 9, 245-249

This paper addressed the persistence of the Ebola virus in sterilized domestic sewage. Ebola virus is an enveloped, filamentous virus with lengths of >1000 nm. The research confirmed that Ebola virus could persist in wastewater for a number of days, with persistence rates dependent on wastewater composition and dilution.

Ebola Virus Persistence in the Environment: State of the Knowledge and Research Needs Kyle Bibby*

, Leonard W. Casson

, Elyse Stachler

, and Charles N. Haas Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett. 2, 1, 2-6

This review paper is a 2015 assessment of the current state of knowledge about the environmental persistence and behavior of Ebola virus. Some of the content of which is transferable to the current Coronavirus outbreak.

Transmission and Inactivation of Airborne Viruses in Aerosols

Viruses in Aerosols Infection Risk Assessment of COVID-19 through Aerosol Transmission: a Case Study of South China Seafood Market Xiaole Zhang

, Zheng Ji

, Yang Yue

, Huan Liu

, and Jing Wang* Environ. Sci. Technol.

This article evaluated the potential aerosol transmission risk of COVID-19 using the South China Seafood Market as a model. Processes included in the risk assessment included rate of viral shedding, dispersion, deposition in air, biological decay, lung deposition and infection rate based on a dose-response model.

COVID-19 Outbreak and Hospital Air Quality: A Systematic Review of Evidence on Air Filtration and Recirculation Ehsan S. Mousavi*

, Negin Kananizadeh

, Richard A. Martinello

, and Jodi D. Sherman Environ. Sci. Technol.

This review paper reports on a systematic literature review on the safety of air filtration and air recirculation in healthcare premises. It investigates the potential impacts on hospital indoor air quality and approaches to remove, dilute and disinfect pathogenic organisms from the hospital environment.

Effect of Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation on Viral Aerosols Christopher M. Walker

and GwangPyo Ko Environ. Sci. Technol. 41, 15, 5460-5465

The airborne transmission of the coronavirus SARS and the influenza virus via aerosols can inform control measures for deactivating airborne viruses. This study reports on the use of ultraviolet disinfection procedures to deactivate the viruses MHV (an enveloped coronavirus), bacteriophage MS2, and Adenovirus Serotype 2, present in the environment in aerosol form. The results suggested that the viruses were more susceptible to UV 254 inactivation when in aerosol form than when present in liquid form. The researchers further reported that other physical and biological factors present during nebulization and aerial transport may also affect the UV susceptibility of the viruses. Specifically for the MHV coronavirus, the researchers found the virus was highly susceptible to inactivation by both the process of nebulization and aerosolization and also sampling, possibly due to its structure as an enveloped virus and susceptibility to mechanical stress. The study also reported the MHV coronavirus was more readily inactivated when nebulized in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) compared to suspension in Minimum Essential Medium (MEM) in the presence of Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS), possibly due to the stabilizing effect of proteins protecting the virus. This latter suspension medium is thought to be closer to the composition of human saliva, indicating the virus may be more protected in aerosol form when suspended in a protein-rich saliva matrix.

Aerosolization of Ebola Virus Surrogates in Wastewater Systems Kaisen Lin

and Linsey C. Marr* Environ. Sci. Technol. 51, 5, 2669-2675

This paper investigated the potential for aerosolization of viruses from wastewater collection systems such as toilet flushing, sewer systems, and wastewater treatment plants. The emission rates of two viruses, the non-enveloped single stranded RNA bacteriophage MS2, and enveloped double-stranded RNA bacteriophage Phi6, were determined in a flushing toilet, a lab-scale aeration basin, and a lab-scale sewer model of converging pipes. The results showed aerosolization can occur to varying extents in the different systems. Flushing toilets did generate aerosols, but in low amounts. Aerosolization from an aeration basin resulted in viable virus being released, as did the converging flows from a small-scale sewer system. The researchers concluded for a specific virus, the amount of virus aerosolized should depend on its concentration in wastewater, and that while aerosolization from toilets appeared to present a low risk, aerosolization from sewer systems and wastewater treatment plants may be of concern if an infectious virus is present.

Humidity-Dependent Decay of Viruses, but Not Bacteria, in Aerosols and Droplets Follows Disinfection Kinetics Kaisen Lin

and Linsey C. Marr* Environ. Sci. Technol. 54, 2, 1024-1032

This study investigated the role of relative humidity on the survival and onward transmission of viruses (and bacteria) present in aerosols and droplets. The results indicated that inactivation of a virus was governed by the concentration of solutes present in the aerosol or droplet, which changed over time as the droplet evaporated and solute concentrations increased. The researchers studied the viability of the non-enveloped bacteriophage MS2, and the enveloped bacteriophage Φ6. Viruses survived best at both low and extremely high relative humidity, while experiencing greater decay at intermediate relative humidity conditions. This indicated that different mechanisms may dominate the humidity-dependent decay of viruses and an understanding of the functional and structural integrity of viruses is required to gain a more complete mechanistic understanding of the effects of relative humidity on viral decay.

Partitioning of Viruses in Wastewater Systems and Potential for Aerosolization Mari Titcombe Lee

, Amy Pruden

, and Linsey C. Marr* Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett. 3, 5, 210-215

In this paper, researchers investigated the partitioning behavior of non-enveloped bacteriophage MS2 (single-stranded RNA virus) and lipid-enveloped bacteriophage, Phi6 (double-stranded RNA virus), between liquids, bio-solids and material surfaces such as concrete and PVC in wastewater systems. Results showed at least 94% of each virion partitioned into the liquid fraction. The preference for these viruses to migrate to the liquid phase increases the potential for later aerosolization of the viruses given the right conditions, increasing the potential for additional routes of human exposure via inhalation.

Disinfection of Virus-Contaminated Surfaces Letter to the Editor on “An Imperative Need for Research on the Role of Environmental Factors in Transmission of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)”, Back to Basics Kouji H. Harada*

, Mariko Harada Sassa

, and Naomichi Yamamoto Environ. Sci. Technol. 54, 13, 7738-7739

This Letter to the Editor highlights the importance of basic sanitation and ventilation procedures to minimize cross-infection rates, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Measures include the importance of hand hygiene, effective ventilation in buildings, and the use of face masks and gloves.

Dry Heat as a Decontamination Method for N95 Respirator Reuse Chamteut Oh

, Elbashir Araud

, Joseph V. Puthussery

, Hezi Bai

, Gemma G. Clark

, Leyi Wang

, Vishal Verma

, and Thanh H. Nguyen* Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett. 7, 9, 677-682

Researchers investigated the effectiveness of dry heat treatment to inactivate Tulane virus, rotavirus, adenovirus and gastroenteritis virus on N95 respirators for their potential reuse. A 50-minute cycle at 100℃ dry heat generated by an electric cooker was effective at inactivating the viruses, with no loss of respirator integrity after 20 cycles of heat treatment.

Germicidal Ultraviolet Light Does Not Damage or Impede Performance of N95 Masks Upon Multiple Uses Zhe Zhao

, Zhaobo Zhang

, Mariana Lanzarini-Lopes

, Shahnawaz Sinha

, Hojung Rho

, Pierre Herckes

, and Paul Westerhoff* Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett. 7, 8, 600-605

This research article investigated the disinfection and reuse of N95-rated masks using germicidal ultraviolet light to inactivate the H1N1 virus. The research demonstrated that neither 254 nor 265 nm UV-C irradiation at 1 and 10 J/cm2 had adverse effects on the masks’ ability to remove aerosolized virus-sized particles, and resulted in no change in polymer structure morphology or surface hydrophobicity for multiple layers in the masks, and no change in pressure drop or tensile strength of the mask materials.

Increased Use of Quaternary Ammonium Compounds during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic and Beyond: Consideration of Environmental Implications Priya I. Hora

, Sarah G. Pati

, Patrick J. McNamara

, and William A. Arnold* Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett. 7, 9, 622-631

This research article examines the environment impact of increased usage of quaternary ammonium compounds commonly found in disinfection cleaning products. Potential consequences of increased environmental release of these compounds include disruption of wastewater treatment unit operations, proliferation of antibiotic resistance, formation of nitrosamine disinfection byproducts and impacts on biota in surface waters.

Increased Indoor Exposure to Commonly Used Disinfectants during the COVID-19 Pandemic Guomao Zheng

, Gabriel M. Filippelli

, and Amina Salamova* Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett.

This research investigated the occurrence of 19 quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) in residential dust collected before and during the outbreak of COVID-19. In addition the study also measured the levels of QACs in selected disinfecting products commonly used in sampled homes and evaluated the effects of using certain products and also disinfection frequency on the levels of QACs in the indoor environment.

Surface Cleaning and Disinfection: Efficacy Assessment of Four Chlorine Types Using Escherichia coli and the Ebola Surrogate Phi6 Karin Gallandat*

, Marlene K. Wolfe

, and Daniele Lantagne Environ. Sci. Technol. 51, 8, 4624-4631

This research study compared the effectiveness of four chlorine-based solutions to disinfect different surface types contaminated with the enveloped virus surrogate bacteriophage Phi6, and Escherichia coli . The researchers ultimately recommended a 15-minute exposure to 0.5% chlorine, independent of chlorine type, surface or cleaning practices, in order to effectively interrupt disease transmission from contaminated surfaces.

Evaluating the Environmental Persistence and Inactivation of MS2 Bacteriophage and the Presumed Ebola Virus Surrogate Phi6 Using Low Concentration Hydrogen Peroxide Vapor Joseph P. Wood*

, William Richter

, Michelle Sunderman

, M. Worth Calfee

, Shannon Serre

, and Leroy Mickelsen Environ. Sci. Technol. 54, 6, 3581-3590

This study compared the effectiveness of hydrogen peroxide vapor to disinfect different surface types contaminated with the enveloped virus surrogate, Phi6, and the non-enveloped bacteriophage MS2. The researchers reported low concentration hydrogen peroxide vapor was effective in deactivating both viruses in the absence of blood in 2 hours, but was ineffective against both viruses in the presence of blood on all materials, even with a 3-day contact time. Increased concentrations of hydrogen peroxide vapor with longer contact time (24-32 hours) increased the effectiveness of virus inactivation in the presence of blood.

Virus-Contaminated Solid Waste Environmentally Sustainable Management of Used Personal Protective Equipment Narendra Singh

, Yuanyuan Tang

, and Oladele A. Ogunseitan* Environ. Sci. Technol. 54, 14, 8500-8502

This viewpoint considers the increased use of PPE during the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated concerns of demand-supply, use and disposal. The researchers make a case for timely investment in research and development for new PPE materials that reduce waste generation, and long-term global strategies and policies for the safe and sustainable management of used PPE.

Survival of the Avian Influenza Virus (H6N2) After Land Disposal David A. Graiver

, Christina L. Topliff

, Clayton L. Kelling

, and Shannon L. Bartelt-Hunt* Environ. Sci. Technol. 43, 11, 4063-4067

This research focused on the survival of the Influenza virus, H6N2, following the burial of infected carcasses as solid waste at municipal landfills. The study showed burial in municipal solid waste landfills resulted in inactivation times for the virus ranging from 30 days to 600 days depending on local conditions such as temperature and pH. The research confirmed the infected solid waste would stay infectious during and after waste disposal, but overall inactivation times were within the design life of required barrier systems at Subtitle D landfill sites.

COVID-19 and Sustainability Considerations Unlocking the Impacts of COVID-19 Lockdowns: Changes in Thermal Electricity Generation Water Footprint and Virtual Water Trade in Europe Mario Roidt

, Christopher M. Chini

, Ashlynn S. Stillwell

, and Andrea Cominola* Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett. 7, 9, 683-689

This article investigated how changing electricity demand and electricity generation impacted consumptive water use in thermal power plant operations in Europe during the COVID-19 lockdown period. The researchers also investigated changes in the virtual water trade among five European countries strongly affected by the COVID-19 outbreak during the lockdown period.