Can wastewater-based epidemiology be used to evaluate the health impact of temperature? - An exploratory study in an Australian population

Dung Phung; Jochen Mueller; Foon Yin Lai; Jake O'Brien; Nhung Dang; Lidia Morawska; Phong K Thai

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2017.03.023

Can wastewater-based epidemiology be used to evaluate the health impact of temperature? - An exploratory study in an Australian population

Environ Res. 2017 Jul:156:113-119. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2017.03.023. Epub 2017 Mar 22.

Authors

Dung Phung¹, Jochen Mueller², Foon Yin Lai², Jake O'Brien², Nhung Dang³, Lidia Morawska⁴, Phong K Thai⁵

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Environment and Population Health, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
² Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
³ Dermatology Research Centre, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
⁴ International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
⁵ International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia. Electronic address: phong.thai@qut.edu.au.

PMID: 28342346
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2017.03.023

Abstract

Ambient temperature is known to have impact on population health but assessing its impact by the traditional cohort approach is resource intensive. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) could be an alternative for the traditional approach. This study was to provide the first evaluation to see if WBE can be used to assess the impact of temperature exposure to a population in South East Queensland, Australia using selected pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) as biomarkers. Daily loads of eight PPCPs in wastewater collected from a wastewater treatment plant were measured from February 2011 to June 2012. Corresponding daily weather data were obtained from the closest weather station. Missing data of PPCPs were handled using the multiple imputation (MI) method, then we used a one-way between-groups analysis of variance to examine the seasonal effect on daily variation of PPCPs by seasons. Finally, an MI estimate was performed to evaluate the continuous relationship between daily average temperature and each multiply-imputed PPCP using time-series regression analysis. The results indicated that an increase of 1°C in average temperature associated with decrease at 1.3g/d (95% CI: -2.2 to (-0.4), p<0.05) for atenolol, increase at 36.5g/d (95% CI: 25.2-47.8, p<0.01) for acesulfame, and increase at 0.8g/d (95% CI: 0.02-1.55, p=0.05) for naproxen. No significant association was observed between temperature and the remaining PPCPs, comprising: caffeine, carbamazepine, codeine, hydrochlorothiazide, and salicylic acid. The findings suggested that consumption of sweetened drinks, risk of worsening cardiovascular conditions and pains are associated with variation in ambient temperature. WBE can thus be used as a complementary method to traditional cohort studies in epidemiological evaluation of the association between environmental factors and health outcomes provided that specific biomarkers of such health outcomes can be identified.

Keywords: Ambient temperature; Atenolol; Cardiovascular diseases; Sweetened drinks; Wastewater analysis.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Biomarkers / analysis*
Cosmetics / analysis*
Environmental Monitoring / methods*
Epidemiologic Methods
Pharmaceutical Preparations / analysis
Queensland
Temperature*
Wastewater / analysis*
Water Pollutants, Chemical / analysis*

Substances

Biomarkers
Cosmetics
Pharmaceutical Preparations
Waste Water
Water Pollutants, Chemical