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Effect of filtration rates on hollow fiber ultrafilter concentration of viruses and protozoans from large volumes of water
Citation:
RHODES, E., D. W. Hamilton, M. J. See, AND L. J. WYMER. Effect of filtration rates on hollow fiber ultrafilter concentration of viruses and protozoans from large volumes of water. JOURNAL OF VIROLOGICAL METHODS. Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, 176(1-2):38-45, (2011).
Impact/Purpose:
The overarching objective of this task is to provide Agency scientists and others the methods they need to measure the occurrence of waterborne viral pathogens. The method improvements will facilitate the development of risk-based assessments and tools used by the Agency to set regulations, policies and priorities for protecting human health. Specific Objectives The specific objective of this task is the development of improved occurrence detection methods for viruses. Since this work is a primary focus of the Branch, this task supports several individual projects related to sample preparation and virus detection. Together these projects will lead to complete methods able to support the UCMR and the CCL2 and CCL3.
Description:
Aims: To describe the ability of tangential flow hollow-fiber ultrafiltration to recover viruses from large volumes of water when run either at high filtration rates or lower filtration rates and recover Cryptosporidium parvum at high filtration rates. Methods and Results: Water samples (100 L) were spiked with MS2, poliovirus or Cryptosporidium parvum and concentrated by tangential flow ultrafiltration (UF) at either high (>2 L min-1) or low (<2 L min-1) filtration rates. MS2 recoveries from tap water showed a significant difference in recovery between high and low filtration rate runs, with recoveries of 64.7% and 98.7%, respectively. Poliovirus recoveries from tap water were similar to MS2 in both the high and low filtration rates runs, with recoveries of 62.9% and 104.5%, respectively. Conversely, the recoveries of C. parvum averaged 105.1% during high filtration rates. Conclusions: We were able to demonstrate here that hollow-fiber ultrafiltration is effective at recovering MS2, poliovirus and C. parvum from large volumes of water. However, UF recoveries of MS2 and poliovirus were significantly higher at lower filtration rates. Significance and impact of study: This study helps to understand which UF run parameters have an affect on recoveries of waterborne pathogens. This will lead to operating the ultrafiltration system at ideal parameters to increase recoveries for all pathogens.