Municipal solid waste, an overlooked route of transmission for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2: a review

Jie Han; Shanshan He; Wenyuan Shao; Chaoqi Wang; Longkai Qiao; Jiaqi Zhang; Ling Yang

doi:10.1007/s10311-022-01512-y

Municipal solid waste, an overlooked route of transmission for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2: a review

Environ Chem Lett. 2023;21(1):81-95. doi: 10.1007/s10311-022-01512-y. Epub 2022 Sep 15.

Authors

Jie Han¹, Shanshan He¹, Wenyuan Shao², Chaoqi Wang¹, Longkai Qiao¹, Jiaqi Zhang¹, Ling Yang³

Affiliations

¹ School of Human Settlements and Civil Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049 People's Republic of China.
² School of Life Sciences and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049 People's Republic of China.
³ School of Engineering and Built Environment, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD 4111 Australia.

Abstract

Municipal solid waste could potentially transmit human pathogens during the collection, transport, handling, and disposal of waste. Workers and residents living in the vicinity of municipal solid waste collection or disposal sites are particularly susceptible, especially unprotected workers and waste pickers. Recent evidence suggests that municipal solid waste-mediated transmission can spread the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) to humans. Such risks, however, have received little attention from public health authorities so far and may present an under-investigated transmission route for SARS-CoV-2 and other infectious agents during pandemics. In this review, we provide a retrospective analysis of the challenges, practices, and policies on municipal solid waste management during the current pandemic, and scrutinize the recent case reports on the municipal solid waste-mediated transmission of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We found abrupt changes in quantity and composition of municipal solid wastes during the COVID-19. We detail pathways of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 and other pathogens carried on municipal solid wastes. We disclose evidence of pathogenic transmission by municipal solid waste to humans and animals. Assessments of current policies, gaps, and voluntary actions taken on municipal solid waste handling and disposal in the current pandemic are presented. We propose risk mitigation strategies and research priorities to alleviate the risk for humans and vectors exposed to municipal solid wastes.

Keywords: Infectious agents; Landfill disposal; Novel coronavirus; Waste management; Waste picking; Waste recycling.

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Publication types

Review