Within- and between-Day Variability of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Municipal Wastewater during Periods of Varying COVID-19 Prevalence and Positivity

  1. Aaron Bivins
  2. Devin North
  3. Zhenyu Wu
  4. Marlee Shaffer
  5. Warish Ahmed
  6. Kyle Bibby

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Abstract

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  1. Version published to 10.1021/acsestwater.1c00178
  2. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.03.16.21253652: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board Statementnot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    Comparisons between two groups were made using Mann-Whitney tests and between multiple groups using Kruskal-Wallis tests with Dunn’s correction36–38.
    Dunn’s
    suggested: None
    All graphing and statistical analyses associated with the described experiments were performed using GraphPad Prism Version 9.0.0
    GraphPad Prism
    suggested: (GraphPad Prism, RRID:SCR_002798)
    (GraphPad Software, LaJolla, CA, USA).
    GraphPad
    suggested: (GraphPad Prism, RRID:SCR_002798)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    For the workflow described in this study, BRSV seems a reasonable process control for estimating the recovery of SARS-CoV-2 RNA, given the limitations inherent to all process controls.45 The mean recovery of BRSV observed during this study is much lower than the 6.6% recovery reported for electronegative membrane filtration with acidification and MgCl2 amendment reported during a study in Virginia9. However, electronegative membrane filtration methods have demonstrated recoveries ranging from approximately 10% to less than 1% during virus concentration from sewage42. While the BRSV recovery efficiencies in the current study span 2.7 orders of magnitude, the range of SARS-CoV-2 concentration efficiencies, only spanned 1.9 orders of magnitude. Importantly, a statistically meaningful difference was observed in recovery efficiencies for the process control between WWTP A and B. This difference was also observed for the concentration recovery assessment of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Enveloped viruses, such as SARS-CoV-2, partition favorably to solids43,46,47 and their recoveries from solids can be low46. The partitioning is likely further complicated by the presence of SARS-CoV-2 genetic material in various forms in wastewater, including free RNA and capsid-contained RNA48. In a study of SARS-CoV-2 adsorption to surfaces in solution, electrostatic adhesion correlated with both solution ionic strength and surface chemistry49. Additionally, a physicochemical model suggested specific absorbance...

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  3. Version published to 10.1101/2021.03.16.21253652 on medRxiv