Realistic assessment of biomarker transformation in the wastewater system

基于废水的流行病学是一种国际公认的成本效益高的工具，用于监测人群暴露于化学品和包括新冠肺炎在内的传染病。然而，关键生物标志物的下水道内降解会限制其基于废水的流行病学适用性。该项目旨在系统地评估一套新的潜在生物标志物的稳定性，并使用来自约65%的澳大利亚人口的废水样本，首次在澳大利亚范围内对生物标志物稳定性对基于废水的流行病学估计的影响进行评估。该项目希望产生知识，以扩大废水流行病学的应用，以可靠地量化即使在偏远地区的接触情况和福祉状况。

Wastewater-based epidemiology is an internationally recognised cost-effective tool to monitor population exposure to chemicals and infectious diseases including Covid-19. However, in-sewer degradation of critical biomarkers can limit their wastewater-based epidemiology suitability. This project aims to systematically evaluate the stability of a new suite of potential biomarkers and conduct the first Australia-wide assessment on the impact of biomarker stability on wastewater-based epidemiology estimates using wastewater samples from ~65% of the Australian population. The project expects to generate knowledge to expand the application of wastewater-based epidemiology to reliably quantify exposure and status of well-being even in remote areas