Research

Publications
Title: Mechanistic insights into the viral microorganism inactivation during lime stabilization for wastewater sludges
First author: Zhang, Weijun; Zong, Yuxi; Zhang, Jianbo; Ai, Jing; He, Hang; Li, Lanfeng; Peng, Sainan; Zhou, Hao; Wang, Dongsheng; Wang, Qilin
Journal: JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
Years: 2025
Volume / issue: /
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.136884
Abstract: The pathogens inactivation in wastewater sludges is vitally important for safely managing solid wastes and protecting public and environmental health especially in the emergency. Reports have shown the effectiveness of lime to kill virus pathogens in sludges, but mechanism of virus inactivation and related human diseases is unclear. This study evaluated representative limes of CaO/CaO2 on actual viral microorganism inactivation by viral metagenomic sequencing technology. As results, the CaO2 treatment enhanced the sludge hydrolysis and enveloped viral pathogens suppression via EPS structure destruction by oxidative radical generations; while CaO suppressed most of none-enveloped plant related viral pathogens. Most of the viromes of plant virus includingVirgaviridae and Nodaviridae were inactivated by CaO, but the human virus- Feirsviridae and plant virus-Sol- emoviridae were occurred after lime stabilization compared to untreated sludge, with abundances of 1 %-37 % and 21 %-32 % in CaO-treated (CaO-T) and CaO2-treated (CaO2-T) samples, respectively. In addition, meta- transcriptome analysis revealed distinct gene expression patterns between the CaO-T and CaO2-T sludges, in which lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis (LPS) and aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (ARSs) in CaO-T, the formation of ribosome in CaO2-T were crucial to RNA virus regrowth in sludge. These findings suggested neither of CaO and CaO2 could completely suppress pathogens in sludge, and the effect of representative limes of CaO and CaO2 on the viral pathogen diversity, abundance, and metabolic function of the core microbiome on virus suppression and regrowth were ignored. Therefore, combined processes were recommended to provide possible alternatives for sludge safe management in pandemic emergencies.