Personal care products use during SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: Environmental and public health impact assessment using wastewater-based epidemiology.

The recent SARS-CoV-2 pandemic had profound consequences on people's wellbeing, societies and economy worldwide. This manuscript discusses public exposure to chemicals of concern in personal care products (parabens and benzophenones) during SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. These were monitored for two years in four catchments (two cities and two towns) in South West England accounting for >1 million people.

Predicting pharmaceutical concentrations and assessing risks in the aquatic environment using PERK: A case study of a catchment area in South-West England.

The aim of this study was to introduce a model to predict pharmaceuticals concentrations in the aquatic environment and their environmental impacts using the Risk Quotient (RQ) approach. The model was trained using: (i) high resolution dataset on pharmaceuticals' concentration in wastewater and receiving environment in a river catchment, (ii) understanding of pharmaceuticals' discharge points in the catchment, (iii) fate of pharmaceuticals during wastewater treatment and in the receiving environment, (iv) high resolution per-postcode pharmaceutical prescription data. A total of 41 pharmaceuticals were evaluated, with successful predictions achieved for concentrations falling within the range of 0.

Antimicrobials and antimicrobial resistance genes in the shadow of COVID-19 pandemic: A wastewater-based epidemiology perspective.

Higher usage of antimicrobial agents in both healthcare facilities and the communities has resulted in an increased spread of resistant bacteria. However, the improved infection prevention and control practices may also contribute to decreasing antimicrobial resistance (AMR). In the present study, wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) approach was applied to explore the link between COVID-19 and the community usage of antimicrobials, as well as the prevalence of resistance genes.

Assessment of restriction measures implemented during COVID pandemics on community lifestyle choices via wastewater-based epidemiology.

SARS-CoV-2 pandemic affected lifestyle habits, and the mental health and wellbeing of people around the world. In this manuscript, two towns (Paulton and Radstock) and two cities (Bath and Bristol) in Southwest England (> 1 million people) were monitored for two years using Wastewater-Based Epidemiology to assess impacts of COVID (including management measures such as lockdowns and movement restrictions) on community lifestyle choices: illicit drugs, legal stimulants, abused pharmaceuticals and pain pharma usage. Results were triangulated with key dates captured during the pandemic (national lockdowns, restrictions and social distancing measures, etc.