title: Could sewage epidemiology be a strategy to assess lifestyle and wellness of a large scale population?
abstract: The use of sewage epidemiology to estimate the behavior of a large scale population has mainly been used to assess illicit drug use within a community. The systemic oxidative stress marker, 8-isoprostane, is a wildly accepted biomarker for various diseases such as diabetes, and cardiovascular and renal diseases. 8-Isoprostane is detected in urine and, as with illicit drugs, is excreted into urban sewer networks. Initially, we tested the hypothesis that differential 8-isoprostane levels are detected in wastewater of different communities and that 8-isoprostane values adjusted for the flow rate and population size will remain constant over a 2 months period. Sewage samples were collected from three sewage collection points supplied by different communities located in the Detroit metropolitan area and concentration of 8-isoprostane and synthetic plastic component, bisphenol A (BPA), were measured. Levels of 8-isoprostane were constant during the two measured months at each collection point in oppose to BPA levels. When the levels were compared among communities, 8-isoprostane levels in 24h flow and their concentrations per capita in each community varied by more than 5-fold among them. Considering the fact that 8-isoprostane is a biomarker of several diseases, we hypothesize that measurement of 8-isoprostane levels in sewage may serve as a risk assessment tool of oxidative stress-related diseases in a large scale population. Thus, sewage epidemiology can be utilized to obtain an early warning in a community to facilitate intervention for improvement of the community health.
authors.affiliation: Federal University of Goias, Physiology Department, Campus Jatai, Goias, Brazil.
authors.forename: Julia M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, Detroit, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jurban
authors.affiliation: Detroit R&D, Inc., Detroit, MI, USA. Electronic address: hskim@detroitrandd.com.
authors.forename: Hyesook
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D001559:Benzhydryl Compounds / Q000032:analysis*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism*; D002845:Chromatography; D002947:Cities; D015237:Dinoprost / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000032:analysis / Q000652:urine; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008824:Michigan; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D010636:Phenols / Q000032:analysis*; D012722:Sewage; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D000098826:Bisphenol A Compounds
chemical_list: D001559:Benzhydryl Compounds; D015415:Biomarkers; D015237:Dinoprost; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D010636:Phenols; D012722:Sewage; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C075750:8-epi-prostaglandin F2alpha; C006780:bisphenol A; D000098826:Bisphenol A Compounds