Kreuter Matthew W, Garg Rachel, Marsh Alexis K, Olagoke Ayokunle, Weng Olivia, De La Vega Victoria, Dunn Cameron, Johnson Kimberly J
Health Communication Research Laboratory, School of Public Health, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA.
Department of Population Health, School of Medicine, University of Kansas-Wichita, Wichita, KS, USA.
Public Health Rep. 2025 Sep 7:333549251359177. doi: 10.1177/00333549251359177.
Although wastewater monitoring for virus detection has increased in communities worldwide, public awareness, understanding, questions, and concerns about wastewater monitoring are largely unknown. We assessed awareness, knowledge, and support for wastewater monitoring for detection of viruses and bacteria among US residents and elicited questions and concerns from residents about its use.
We conducted a survey among a racially and ethnically diverse sample of residents in Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, and Texas to assess awareness, knowledge, and support of wastewater monitoring. We also asked an open-ended question to elicit further questions and concerns from survey participants about wastewater monitoring. Two independent reviewers coded the responses to the open-ended question.
Among 516 survey participants (52% White, 31% Black, 27% Hispanic ethnicity), 289 (56%) were aware that local public health departments and federal health agencies tested sewer water yet 334 (65%) knew "little or nothing" about wastewater monitoring. After participants were exposed to a brief description of the wastewater monitoring process, 80% "supported" or "strongly supported" wastewater monitoring to detect viruses and bacteria. When we analyzed responses to the open-ended question on wastewater monitoring, 3 broad categories and 9 subcategories of questions and concerns about wastewater monitoring emerged: (1) how wastewater monitoring works (mechanics, accuracy, cost, safety), (2) what is done with the findings generated by wastewater monitoring (public accessibility, government trust, public health response), and (3) what protections were in place against misuse of findings (privacy, fairness).
Proactive public education is needed to increase understanding, build support, and prevent disinformation about wastewater monitoring. Local systems are needed to share findings rapidly, clearly, and simply.
尽管全球各社区针对病毒检测的废水监测有所增加，但公众对废水监测的认识、理解、疑问和担忧在很大程度上仍不为人所知。我们评估了美国居民对用于检测病毒和细菌的废水监测的认识、知识和支持情况，并收集了居民对其使用的疑问和担忧。
我们在科罗拉多州、马里兰州、密苏里州、内布拉斯加州和得克萨斯州的不同种族和族裔居民样本中进行了一项调查，以评估对废水监测的认识、知识和支持情况。我们还提出了一个开放式问题，以收集调查参与者对废水监测的更多问题和担忧。两名独立评审员对开放式问题的回答进行了编码。
在516名调查参与者中（52%为白人，31%为黑人，27%为西班牙裔），289人（56%）知道当地公共卫生部门和联邦卫生机构检测污水，但334人（65%）对废水监测“几乎一无所知”。在参与者了解了废水监测过程的简要描述后，80%的人“支持”或“强烈支持”通过废水监测来检测病毒和细菌。当我们分析对关于废水监测的开放式问题的回答时，出现了关于废水监测的3大类和9个子类别的问题和担忧：（1）废水监测如何运作（原理、准确性、成本、安全性），（2）如何处理废水监测产生的结果（公众可获取性、政府信任度、公共卫生应对措施），以及（3）针对结果的滥用有哪些保护措施（隐私、公平性）。
需要积极开展公众教育，以增进理解、建立支持并防止有关废水监测的虚假信息传播。需要建立地方系统，以便迅速、清晰和简洁地分享结果。
