Quantitative Analysis of Waste Water Samples Using qPCR
Wastewater testing is a novel approach to tracking infections in a large populous using a single sample source. Eurofins Genomics can detect as low as 2 to 10 infections per 10,000 people from one sample. Although wastewater testing has been around for years, it became more prominent during the COVID-19 pandemic due to its unique ability to monitoring the spread of the virus. In summary, your organization could test hundreds or even thousands of people from a single sample to acquire powerful, actionable data.
There are many practical applications for wastewater testing. Municipalities use wastewater as an early detection method to identify hot spots for infections within a city, county, state, or institution. Companies use wastewater to test for chemical leaks, adulterants, runoff, and regulatory needs. Environmental labs use wastewater to track everything from contaminants to endangered species in the wild. The applications are endless.
Applications
- Detection of infections and viruses
- Genetic mutations
- Drug testing
- Monitoring endangered species in an ecosystem
- Water testing
- Demographic data
Advantages
- Cost-effective: save billions by avoiding expensive, individualized testing methods
- Non-invasive: zero interaction with patients
- Early detection: as a case study, Eurofins detected SARS-CoV-2 up to 7 days before the infected persons experience symptoms and in a population.
- Quantitative results: provides an approximate measure of the number of infected individuals in the population.
- Scalability: extremely fast and simple to scale across huge segments of the population.
*Eurofins is one of the few labs in the US that offer quantitative results.
Traditional wastewater testing provides a positive/negative result only. Eurofins developed a quantitative method which provides the approximate number of infections in the group, which is an incredibly powerful metric when monitoring large groups.
Ordering
| Catalog Item |
Price |
Order |
| 12WW-000WW0 |
List price is $450.00 per sample. For high volume pricing, please request a quote below.
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Quantity
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*For quotes, please specify the number of samples and frequency.
Request Quote
Turnaround Time
Turnaround time is 2-3 business days from the time in which the sample is received.
Sample Collection
There are many access points to collect a sample, both in urban and rural settings. Samples can be collected from any sewer line inside of a facility or from a main line outside. Additionally, any channel for water runoff, natural or man-made, are potential sources.
1. Facilities, buildings, dormitories, apartment complexes, multifamily units and more.
2. Correctional facilities.
3. Water runoff sources.
4. Sewer lines.
Limitations of Wastewater Testing
Although wastewater testing effectively monitors a specific group, it cannot provide results for individuals within that group. Depending on the purpose of the test, the client may or may not wish to follow-up with individual diagnostic testing to identify the infected person within the group.
Case study: COVID-19 testing
As COVID-19 testing ramped up across the United States and other countries, swab-based, RT-PCR laboratories faced capacity constraints, delays to results, and supply chain shortages. On the contrary, wastewater testing was a much more scalable solution for monitoring the virus. Large groups could be tested with one sample and provide an early detection method. Furthermore, it circumscribed the problem of low participation rates and high cost of individual testing. However, once a positive case was identified in a waste water sample, it became imperative to investigate further with individualized testing to identify and isolate the infected person.
Additional SARS-CoV-2 Products and Services
Eurofins Scientific has developed a holistic suite of products and services to support your SARS-CoV-2 needs, including test kits for human diagnostics, environmental testing, and research.