Evaluating the stability of three oxidative stress biomarkers under sewer conditions and potential impact for use in wastewater-based epidemiology

Jake W O'Brien; Phil M Choi; Jiaying Li; Phong K Thai; Guangming Jiang; Benjamin J Tscharke; Jochen F Mueller; Kevin V Thomas

doi:10.1016/j.watres.2019.115068

Evaluating the stability of three oxidative stress biomarkers under sewer conditions and potential impact for use in wastewater-based epidemiology

Water Res. 2019 Dec 1:166:115068. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2019.115068. Epub 2019 Sep 9.

Authors

Jake W O'Brien¹, Phil M Choi², Jiaying Li³, Phong K Thai², Guangming Jiang⁴, Benjamin J Tscharke², Jochen F Mueller², Kevin V Thomas²

Affiliations

¹ The University of Queensland, Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, QLD, 4102, Australia. Electronic address: j.obrien2@uq.edu.au.
² The University of Queensland, Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), 20 Cornwall Street, Woolloongabba, QLD, 4102, Australia.
³ The University of Queensland, Advanced Water Management Centre, St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia.
⁴ The University of Queensland, Advanced Water Management Centre, St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia; School of Civil, Mining & Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences, University of Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia.

PMID: 31542546
DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2019.115068

Abstract

Wastewater contains a wealth of information about the population who contribute to it including biological and chemical markers of human activity and exposures. F₂-isoprostanes have been proposed as oxidative stress biomarkers that can be measured in wastewater to provide a measure of oxidative stress at the population level. While an association between tobacco use and their level in wastewater has been demonstrated, an in-sewer stability assessment has not been conducted to support their use as oxidative stress biomarkers for wastewater-based epidemiology studies. In this study we investigated the stability of 8-iso-prostaglandin F_2α (PGF_2α), its metabolite dinor-11β-Prostaglandin F_2α (dnPGF_2α) and Prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂) (representative of other classes of prostaglandins) in laboratory-scale sewer reactors simulating real sewers. PGF_2α, dnPGF_2α and PGE₂ were all found to be sufficiently stable under typical sewer conditions therefore satisfying the stability requirement of wastewater-based epidemiology population health biomarkers.

Keywords: Biomarkers; In-sewer degradation; Oxidative stress; PGE(2); PGF(2α); dnPGF(2α).

MeSH terms

Biomarkers
F2-Isoprostanes*
Humans
Oxidative Stress
Tobacco Use
Wastewater*

Substances

Biomarkers
F2-Isoprostanes
Waste Water