Detection and Characterization of Hepatitis E Virus Genotype 3 in Wastewater and Urban Surface Waters in Germany.

In highly populated areas, environmental surveillance of wastewater and surface waters is a key factor to control the circulation of viruses and risks for public health. Hepatitis E virus (HEV) genotype 3 is considered as an emerging pathogen in industrialized countries. Therefore, this study was carried out to determine the prevalence of HEV in environmental waters in urban and suburban regions in Germany.

Development and testing of a fractionated filtration for sampling of microplastics in water.

A harmonization of sampling, sample preparation and detection is pivotal in order to obtain comparable data on microplastics (MP) in the environment. This paper develops and proposes a suitable sampling concept for waterbodies that considers different plastic specific properties and influencing factors in the environment. Both artificial water including defined MP fractions and the discharge of a wastewater treatment plant were used to verify the derived sampling procedure, sample preparation and the subsequent analysis of MP using thermal extraction-desorption gas chromatography - mass spectrometry (TED-GC-MS).

Comparison of Microbial Removal Between Slow Dead-End Versus Tangential Sand Filtration.

  Both river bank filtration and dead-end sand filtration are becoming increasingly applied in rural areas to improve the quality of fecally contaminated water. To evaluate the capacity of both treatments to remove E. coli, fecal streptococci, and somatic and K13-phages, this study investigates their concentrations in diluted wastewater after short-distance tangential sand filtration and dead-end sand filtration.

A new approach to testing the efficacy of drinking water disinfectants.

New disinfection procedures are being developed and proposed for use in drinking-water production. Authorising their use requires an effective test strategy that can simulate conditions in practice. For this purpose, we developed a test rig working in a flow-through mode similar to the disinfection procedures in waterworks, but under tightly defined conditions, including very short contact times.

[Environmental health relevance of airborne microorganisms in ambient and indoor air].

Airborne microorganisms occur ubiquitously in the ambient air. Besides allergic and irritative-toxic effects, they can cause infections after inhalation. Occupational studies have shown that an increased incidence of respiratory diseases is found in adequately exposed workers.

Virus removal vs. subsurface water velocity during slow sand filtration.

In an attempt to obtain a conservative estimate of virus removal during slow sand and river bank filtration, a somatic phage was isolated with slow decay and poor adsorption to coarse sand. We continuously fed a phage suspension to a 7-m infiltration path and measured the phage removal. In a second set of experiments, we fed the phage suspension to 1-m long columns run at different pore water velocities.

Removal of Surrogate Bacteriophages and Enteric Viruses from Seeded Environmental Waters Using a Semi-technical Ultrafiltration Unit.

Experiments to determine the removal of viruses in different types of water (surface water from two reservoirs for drinking water treatment, treated groundwater and groundwater contaminated with either 5 or 30 % of wastewater) by ultrafiltration were performed with a semi-technical ultrafiltration unit. Concentrations of human adenoviruses (HAdVs), murine norovirus (MNV), and the bacteriophages MS2, ΦX174 and PRD1 were measured in the feed water and the filtrate, and log removal values were calculated. Bacteria added to the feed water were not detected in the filtrates.

Attenuation and colloidal mobilization of bacteriophages in natural sediments under anoxic as compared to oxic conditions.

Redox conditions are known to affect the fate of viruses in porous media. Several studies report the relevance of colloid-facilitated virus transport in the subsurface, but detailed studies on the effect of anoxic conditions on virus retention in natural sediments are still missing. Therefore, we investigated the fate of viruses in natural flood plain sediments with different sesquioxide contents under anoxic conditions by considering sorption to the solid phase, sorption to mobilized colloids, and inactivation in the aqueous phase.

Transport and removal of viruses in saturated sand columns under oxic and anoxic conditions--Potential implications for groundwater protection.

To protect groundwater as a drinking water resource from microbiological contamination, protection zones are installed. While travelling through these zones, concentrations of potential pathogens should decline to levels that pose no risks to human health. Removal of viruses during subsurface passage is influenced by physicochemical conditions, such as oxygen concentration, which also affects virus survival.

Monitoring of adenovirus serotypes in environmental samples by combined PCR and melting point analyses.

Background: Human adenoviruses are promising candidates for addressing health risks associated with enteric viruses in environmental waters. Relatively harmless but common, these DNA viruses persist within the population and are generally considered extremely stable, remaining infectious in water for long periods of time. Group-specific or single species detection of human adenoviruses in environmental samples is usually based on polymerase chain reaction assays.

Overview of the study design, participation and field work of the German Environmental Survey on Children 2003-2006 (GerES IV).

The German Federal Environment Agency carried out its fourth German Environmental Survey (GerES IV), which is the first survey on children only and the environment-related module of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (German acronym: KiGGS), conducted by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). The German Environmental Surveys are nationwide population studies conducted to determine the exposure to environmental pollutants, to explore exposure pathways and to identify sub-groups with higher exposure. GerES IV was conducted on randomly selected 1790 children aged 3-14 years from the cross-sectional sample of KiGGS.

Surveillance of adenoviruses and noroviruses in European recreational waters.

Exposure to human pathogenic viruses in recreational waters has been shown to cause disease outbreaks. In the context of Article 14 of the revised European Bathing Waters Directive 2006/7/EC (rBWD, CEU, 2006) a Europe-wide surveillance study was carried out to determine the frequency of occurrence of two human enteric viruses in recreational waters. Adenoviruses were selected based on their near-universal shedding and environmental survival, and noroviruses (NoV) selected as being the most prevalent gastroenteritis agent worldwide.

German Environmental Survey for Children (GerES IV)--first results.

German Environmental Surveys (GerESs) are large scale population studies which have been carried out on adults in 1985/86, 1990/92 and 1998 and on children aged 6-14 years in 1990/92. GerES IV is the first survey focussing exclusively on children [Becker, K., Schulz, C.

A randomized controlled trial assessing infectious disease risks from bathing in fresh recreational waters in relation to the concentration of Escherichia coli, intestinal enterococci, Clostridium perfringens, and somatic coliphages.

We performed epidemiologic studies at public freshwater bathing sites in Germany to provide a better scientific basis for the definition of recreational water quality standards. A total of 2,196 participants were recruited from the local population and randomized into bathers and nonbathers. Bathers were exposed for 10 min and had to immerse their head at least three times.

Microbiological investigations for sanitary assessment of wastewater treated in constructed wetlands.

Microbiological investigations into the occurrence and fate of pathogens in wastewater were carried out in a multi-annual measurement programme, using samples from three artificial wetlands equipped with pre-treatment systems (multi-chamber septic tanks, lagoons) and predominantly treating domestic wastewater. In this study, the concentrations of indicator organisms and pathogenic or potentially pathogenic microorganisms were determined in the various components or stages of the systems. The evaluation of data from some 3.

[Strategies and targets for establishing a multicenter trial: "Identification of indoor relevant moulds"].

Quality control is universally recognised as fundamentally important in ensuring that diagnostic laboratories are performing appropriate tests at acceptable levels of competence. Therefore, the working group "Quality assurance--Fungi in Indoor Environments" which was initiated by the Public Health Service Baden-Württemberg (LGA BW) started with the external quality assurance in the diagnosis of indoor fungi in autumn 2001. Up to now we carried out the third mailing based on pure cultures.