Year: 2021
Type: article
Abstract: Murine norovirus (MNV) was used as a surrogate for human viral pathogens (e.g.,norovirus) to determine if toilet flushing resulted in the aerosolization of virus. A flushometer type toilet was seeded with a viral solution of 105and 106PFU mL-1of MNV and then flushed. Upon flushing, two bioaerosol samplers were activated to collect aerosolized MNV. Prior to the experiment, two optical particle counters monitored particle size and number distribution of aerosol produced from flushing a toilet across height, position, and side. The location with the highest mean particle concentration, was behind the toilet and 0.15 m above the toilet bowl rim, which is where bioaerosol sampling occurred. Bioaerosol and toilet water samples were collected, extracted and then quantified using RT-ddPCR. The concentration of MNV collected after seeding the toilet water ranged from 2.18 × 105to 9.65 × 106total copies of MNV. Positive samples of airborne MNV were detected with collected concentrations ranging from 383 to 684 RNA copies/m3of air. This study provides evidence that viral pathogens may be aerosolized when a toilet is flushed. Furthermore, the MNV used in this study is a model organism for human norovirus and may be generalizable to other viral pathogens (e.g., coronavirus). This study suggests that virus is aerosolized from toilet flushing and may contribute to human exposure to viral pathogens.
Source: Scientific Reports
Authors: Corey Boles, Grant Brown, Matthew Nonnenmann
Institution: University of Iowa
Language: English
Subfield: Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,990
OpenAlex ID: W4200000927