The need of an environmental justice approach for wastewater based epidemiology for rural and disadvantaged communities: A review in California

Clara Y Medina; Krystin F Kadonsky; Fernando A Roman Jr; Arianna Q Tariqi; Ryan G Sinclair; Patrick M D'Aoust; Robert Delatolla; Heather N Bischel; Colleen C Naughton

doi:10.1016/j.coesh.2022.100348

The need of an environmental justice approach for wastewater based epidemiology for rural and disadvantaged communities: A review in California

Curr Opin Environ Sci Health. 2022 Jun:27:100348. doi: 10.1016/j.coesh.2022.100348. Epub 2022 Mar 4.

Authors

Clara Y Medina¹, Krystin F Kadonsky¹, Fernando A Roman Jr¹, Arianna Q Tariqi¹, Ryan G Sinclair², Patrick M D'Aoust³, Robert Delatolla³, Heather N Bischel⁴, Colleen C Naughton¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California Merced, Merced, CA, USA.
² School of Public Health, Loma Linda University, Linda, California, USA.
³ Department of Civil Engineering, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, CA, USA.
⁴ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA.

Abstract

Amid the 2019 coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19), the scientific community has a responsibility to provide accessible public health resources within their communities. Wastewater based epidemiology (WBE) has been used to monitor community spread of the pandemic. The goal of this review was to evaluate the need for an environmental justice approach for COVID-19 WBE starting with the state of California in the United States. Methods included a review of the peer-reviewed literature, government-provided data, and news stories. As of June 2021, there were twelve universities, nine public dashboards, and 48 of 384 wastewater treatment plants monitoring wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 within California. The majority of wastewater monitoring in California has been conducted in the urban areas of Coastal and Southern California (34/48), with a lack of monitoring in more rural areas of Central (10/48) and Northern California (4/48). Similar to the access to COVID-19 clinical testing and vaccinations, there is a disparity in access to wastewater testing which can often provide an early warning system to outbreaks. This research demonstrates the need for an environmental justice approach and equity considerations when determining locations for environmental monitoring.

Keywords: COVID-19; Environmental surveillance; Equity; Geospatial analysis; Public health; SARS-CoV-2.

Publication types

Review