Passively sensing SARS-CoV-2 RNA in public transit buses

Jason S Hoffman; Matthew Hirano; Nuttada Panpradist; Joseph Breda; Parker Ruth; Yuanyi Xu; Jonathan Lester; Bichlien H Nguyen; Luis Ceze; Shwetak N Patel

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152790

Passively sensing SARS-CoV-2 RNA in public transit buses

Sci Total Environ. 2022 May 15:821:152790. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152790. Epub 2022 Jan 8.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Washington, 185 E. Stevens Way NE, Seattle 98195, WA, USA. Electronic address: jasonhof@cs.washington.edu.
² Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Washington, 185 Stevens Way, Seattle 98195, WA, USA.
³ Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, 3720 15th Ave NE, Seattle 98105, WA, USA.
⁴ Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Washington, 185 E. Stevens Way NE, Seattle 98195, WA, USA.
⁵ Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Washington, 185 E. Stevens Way NE, Seattle 98195, WA, USA; Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, 3720 15th Ave NE, Seattle 98105, WA, USA.
⁶ Department of Microbiology, University of Washington, 1705 NE Pacific St, Seattle 98195, WA, USA; Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, 4000 15th Ave NE, Seattle 98195, WA, USA.
⁷ Microsoft Research, 14820 NE 36th St, Redmond 98052, WA, USA.
⁸ Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Washington, 185 E. Stevens Way NE, Seattle 98195, WA, USA; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Washington, 185 Stevens Way, Seattle 98195, WA, USA.

Abstract

Affordably tracking the transmission of respiratory infectious diseases in urban transport infrastructures can inform individuals about potential exposure to diseases and guide public policymakers to prepare timely responses based on geographical transmission in different areas in the city. Towards that end, we designed and tested a method to detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the air filters of public buses, revealing that air filters could be used as passive fabric sensors for the detection of viral presence. We placed and retrieved filters in the existing HVAC systems of public buses to test for the presence of trapped SARS-CoV-2 RNA using phenol-chloroform extraction and RT-qPCR. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in 14% (5/37) of public bus filters tested in Seattle, Washington, from August 2020 to March 2021. These results indicate that this sensing system is feasible and that, if scaled, this method could provide a unique lens into the geographically relevant transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through public transit rider vectors, pooling samples of riders over time in a passive manner without installing any additional systems on transit vehicles.

Keywords: Assay method; Coronavirus; Environmental monitoring; Fabric sensors; Passive viral detection.

MeSH terms

COVID-19
Environmental Monitoring
Humans
Motor Vehicles*
RNA, Viral / isolation & purification*
SARS-CoV-2* / isolation & purification
Transportation*
Washington

Substances

RNA, Viral