Evaluating the in-sewer stability of three potential population biomarkers for application in wastewater-based epidemiology

• Published in: The Science of the total environment Vol. 671; pp. 248 - 253
• Main Authors: Thai, Phong K., O'Brien, Jake W., Banks, Andrew P.W., Jiang, Guangming, Gao, Jack, Choi, Phil M., Yuan, Zhiguo, Mueller, Jochen F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 25.06.2019
• Subjects: 5-HIAA; Androstenedione; Cortisol; Endogenous chemicals; In-sewer degradation; Population biomarkers; Population biomarkers; Cortisol; Androstenedione; 5-HIAA; In-sewer degradation; Endogenous chemicals
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.03.231

Endogenous chemicals specific to human metabolism have been suggested to be good candidates for markers of population size in wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE). So far, creatinine is the only endogenous chemical to be assessed against the criteria of in-sewer stability. This study thus aimed to evaluate the fate of three other endogenous compounds, 5-hydroxy indole acetic acid (5-HIAA), cortisol and androstenedione, under different sewer conditions using laboratory-scale sewer reactors. The results showed that while all compounds were stable in wastewater only (i.e. without biofilm), cortisol and androstenedione degraded quickly in sewers with the presence of sewer biofilms. The degradation followed first-order kinetics similar to that of creatinine. In contrast, 5-HIAA was relatively stable in sewer reactors. This study also recognised the impact of wastewater pH on the detectability of 5-HIAA using a LC-MS/MS direct injection method. In samples acidified to pH 2, the method did not allow routine detection/quantification of 5-HIAA whereas in non-acidified samples the method was sufficiently sensitive for routine quantification of 5-HIAA. The stability of 5-HIAA in sewers and the possibility to measure it using a simple and rapid analytical method corroborate that 5-HIAA may be a suitable biomarker for estimation of population size in WBE. [Display omitted] •First stability assessment for three endogenous biomarkers using sewer reactors•5-HIAA is stable within sewer reactors while cortisol and androstenedione are not.•Measurement of 5-HIAA by direct injection is recommended at neutral pH.•5-HIAA could be a good candidate to be used as a population biomarker.