Science News

... from universities, journals, and other research organizations

Prions Are Not Degraded By Conventional Sewage Treatment Processes

June 25, 2008 — Scientists in Wisconsin are reporting that typical wastewater treatment processes do not degrade prions.


Share This:

Prions, rogue proteins that cause incurable brain infections such as Mad Cow disease and its human equivalent, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, are difficult to inactivate, resisting extreme heat, chemical disinfectants, and irradiation. Until now, scientists did not know whether prions entering sewers and septic tanks from slaughterhouses, meatpacking facilities, or private game dressing, could survive and pass through conventional sewage treatment plants.

Joel Pedersen and colleagues used laboratory experiments with simulated wastewater treatment to show that prions can be recovered from wastewater sludge after 20 days, remaining in the "biosolids," a byproduct of sewage treatment sometimes used to fertilize farm fields.

Although emphasizing that prions have never been reported in wastewater treatment plant water or biosolids, the researchers note that existing tests are not sufficiently sensitive to detect the extremely low levels of prions possible in those materials. Their report appears in a paper scheduled for the July 1 issue of the American Chemical Society's Environmental Science & Technology.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

|

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Chemical Society, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. Hinckley, Glen T., Johnson, Christopher J., Jacobson, Kurt H., Bartholomay, Christian, McMahon, Katherine D., McKenzie, Debbie, Aiken, Judd M., and Pedersen, Joel A. Persistence of Pathogenic Prion Protein during Simulated Wastewater Treatment Processes. Environ. Sci. Technol., Web Release Date: June 10, 2008 DOI: 10.1021/es703186e
APA

MLA

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Search ScienceDaily

Number of stories in archives: 138,583

Find with keyword(s):
 
Enter a keyword or phrase to search ScienceDaily's archives for related news topics,
the latest news stories, reference articles, science videos, images, and books.

Recommend ScienceDaily on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing services:

|

 
Interested in ad-free access? If you'd like to read ScienceDaily without ads, let us know!
  more breaking science news

Social Networks


Follow ScienceDaily on Facebook, Twitter,
and Google:

Recommend ScienceDaily on Facebook, Twitter, and Google +1:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

|

Breaking News

... from NewsDaily.com

  • more science news

In Other News ...

  • more top news

Science Video News


Space-Age Technology At The Dentist

Biomedical engineers used advanced cone beam imaging technology take a series of two dimensional x-rays, which enabled them to create a detailed. ...  > full story

Strange Science News

 

Free Subscriptions

... from ScienceDaily

Get the latest science news with our free email newsletters, updated daily and weekly. Or view hourly updated newsfeeds in your RSS reader:

Feedback

... we want to hear from you!

Tell us what you think of ScienceDaily -- we welcome both positive and negative comments. Have any problems using the site? Questions?

Post this page to your favorite social bookmarking site:
Include this item in your blog or web site:
Cite this article in your essay, paper, or report:
Email this page's link to a friend or colleague: