%0 Journal Article %T SARS-CoV-2 in the environment: Contamination routes, detection methods, persistence and removal in wastewater treatment plants %+ Laboratoire d'hydrologie de Nancy (LHN) %+ Direction de la Stratégie et des Programmes (DSP) %A Atoui, Ali %A Cordevant, Christophe %A Chesnot, Thierry %A Gassilloud, Benoît %Z One Health European Joint Programme %< avec comité de lecture %@ 0048-9697 %J Science of the Total Environment %I Elsevier %V 881 %P 163453 %8 2023-07 %D 2023 %R 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163453 %M 37059142 %K SARS-CoV-2 %K Detection methods %K Wastewater %K Wastewater treatment plants %K Fate %Z Life Sciences [q-bio]/Microbiology and Parasitology/VirologyJournal articles %X The present study reviewed the occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA and the evaluation of virus infectivity in feces and environmental matrices. The detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in feces and wastewater samples, reported in several studies, has generated interest and concern regarding the possible fecal–oral route of SARS-CoV-2 transmission. To date, the presence of viable SARS-CoV-2 in feces of COVID-19 infected people is not clearly confirmed although its isolation from feces of six different patients. Further, there is no documented evidence on the infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater, sludge and environmental water samples, although the viral genome has been detected in these matrices. Decay data revealed that SARS-CoV-2 RNA persisted longer than infectious particle in all aquatic environment, indicating that genome quantification of SARS-CoV-2 does not imply the presence of infective viral particles. In addition, this review also outlined the fate of SARS-CoV-2 RNA during the different steps in the wastewater treatment plant and focusing on the virus elimination along the sludge treatment line. Studies showed complete removal of SARS-CoV-2 during the tertiary treatment. Moreover, thermophilic sludge treatments present high efficiency in SARS-CoV-2 inactivation. Further studies are required to provide more evidence with respect to the inactivation behavior of infectious SARS-CoV-2 in different environmental matrices and to examine factors affecting SARS-CoV-2 persistence. %G English %2 https://anses.hal.science/anses-04079509/document %2 https://anses.hal.science/anses-04079509/file/1-s2.0-S0048969723020727-main.pdf %L anses-04079509 %U https://anses.hal.science/anses-04079509 %~ ANSES %~ OPENAIRE %~ AGREENIUM