Nathan Jeffay is the Times of Israel’s health and science correspondent
Nir and microbiologist Ariel Kushmaro, who is also a researcher at Ben Gurion University in the Negev, are part of a team that has taken samples from Israeli wastewater treatment plants for examination and discovered this popular remedy, used in much of the evolved world. , eliminated 99% of coronavirus RNA.
Of the remaining 1%, existing studies suggest that most retain the ability to infect cells, but Nir says some of them can.
“Although the remaining amount of RNA is small, if a single drop can involve 100,000 copies of the virus, you’ll see that there’s a challenge here. “
Researchers found that when enough good chlorine was added, as is already declining in Israel, all lines of the virus are removed.
Ben Gurion’s research, published in an online repository prior to peer review, occurs when scientists point out that sewage is a blind spot in the wisdom of coronaviruses.
Water experts at Durban University of Technology recently published a peer-reviewed paper that represents one of the most comprehensive studies to date.
His studies suggest, contrary to Ben Gurion’s article, that the traditional wastewater remedy deactivates coronavirus particles, but they have called for more research.
“Only one study to date has analyzed the treated wastewater for coronavirus,” they said. “Lack of interest can simply be attributed to past confidence that these viruses might not occur, and even if they do, they will be at a low viral level. batch in wastewater.
“However, the on-the-go evidence that this may not be the case requires studies on how traditional wastewater treatment processes can eliminate or inactivate coronaviruses,” they said.
Durban researchers observed that live SARS-CoV-2 was extracted from patients’ faeces, in a case approximately 15 days after COVID-19 progression.
They warned that if live SARS-CoV-2 is in wastewater, it “can pose fitness problems” for those who come into contact with it, and wrote, “Existing confidence is that SARS-CoV-2 has a low dose level. , therefore, a large amount of viruses in wastewater can pose a high risk. “
Kushmaro said his team’s conclusion that some coronavirus RNA remained was not “alarmist. “While he stated that there is no evidence that water containing coronavirus RNA could infect other people or animals, it presses that this has not been regulated and that, therefore, caution should be exercised and disinfected in all spaces where this is not already the case.
“In Israel, we are adding some other very effective step, after the traditional remedy, namely chlorination,” Kushmaro said, “but in much of the world, chlorine is not added and we urge remedy plants around the world to start adding it. “”
Does the Times of Israel give you a valuable perspective on Israel and the Jewish world?If so, sign up for the Times of Israel community. For as little as $6/month, you:
That’s why we come to paint every day, to offer intelligent readers like you a must-see policy of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other means, we have not placed a wall of payments, but because the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom the Times of Israel has become vital to assist in our paintings by joining the Times of Israel community.
For as little as $6 a month, you can help our quality journalism while enjoying the Times of Israel WITHOUT ADS, as well as access exclusive content that can only be had by members of the Times of Israel community.