INvestigating Home water and Aerosols' Links to opportunistic pathogen Exposure (INHALE): do consumer decisions impact pathogen exposure and virulence?

调查家庭用水和气溶胶与机会性病原体暴露（吸入）的联系：消费者的决定是否会影响病原体暴露和毒力？

• 批准号: 2326096
• 负责人: Sarah Haig
• 金额: $ 42万
• 依托单位: University of Pittsburgh
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-09-01 至 2026-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2326096&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: INvestigating; Home; water; Aerosols; Links

As people take showers, they are exposed to billions of bacterial cells through contact with the water and inhalation of produced aerosols. While many of these organisms are harmless, some drinking water-associated pathogens (DWPIs) are a leading cause of serious health risks, especially for individuals with weakened immune systems. Today, the showerhead market in the United States features a wide range of options which leave consumers to select the type of spray pattern, material, flow rate, and additives (e.g., bacterial killing chemicals) that they want to have in their shower systems. However, we have a limited fundamental understanding of how consumer choices of showerheads directly influence the presence and amounts of DWPIs in shower water and shower water produced aerosols. The overarching goal of this project is to address this knowledge gap. To advance this goal, the Principal Investigators (PIs) will test showerheads with different spray patterns, water flow rates, and additives in an experimental shower lab with the goal of measuring and comparing the concentrations of DWPIs present in shower water and shower water produced aerosols. The successful completion of this project will benefit society through the generation of new data and fundamental knowledge that could enable consumers to select showerheads that prioritize their health while enhancing the fundamental understanding of the aerosolization of DWPIs in shower systems and the built environment. Additional benefits to society will be achieved through student education and training including the mentoring of one graduate student and one undergraduate student at the University of Pittsburgh. Pulmonary infections from drinking water-associated pathogens predominantly causing infections in immunocompromised individuals (DWPI) are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Although there are many DWPIs, Legionella pneumophila, nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are estimated to cost the United States economy $2.39 billion annually. Although DWPI exposure can occur through a variety of pathways, inhalation of water associated aerosols are most associated with infection. Aerosolization, a critical step in the transmission pathway of DWPIs, remains poorly understood. Specifically, little is known about how consumer showerhead choices (spray pattern, flow rate, and material additives) influence DWPI virulence and partitioning from the water to aerosol phase. The long-term goals of this study are to quantitively assess the DWPI exposure risk posed by aerosols produced by different showerhead setups and ascertain if different setups select for greater DWPI exposure and more virulent DWPIs. This goal will be achieved through two research objectives. Objective 1 will test a range of different showerhead setups in an experimental shower lab and quantify the abundance of live L. pneumophila, P. aeruginosa, and NTM in shower water and its associated aerosols using ddPCR and develop shower water to aerosol partitioning models for each DWPI and showerhead. Objective 2 will use a combination of genomic, kinetic, biofilm aggregation, and macrophage infectivity assays to investigate the role that showerhead setup has on organism fitness and virulence. The successful completion of this research has the potential for transformative impact through the generation of new data and fundamental knowledge including mechanistic models of exposure and risk to human health related to the presence of DWPIs in shower water and shower water produced aerosols. To implement the education and training goals of the project, the PIs propose to leverage existing programs at the University of Pittsburgh (U Pitt) Swanson School of Engineering such as the EXCEL program to recruit and mentor undergraduate students from underrepresented groups to work on the project. In addition, the PIs plan to integrate the project research findings into relevant undergraduate and graduate courses at U Pitt.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

随着人们的阵雨，它们通过与水接触并吸入生产的气溶胶，暴露于数十亿个细菌细胞。尽管这些生物中的许多无害，但一些饮用水相关的病原体（DWPI）是严重健康风险的主要原因，尤其是对于免疫系统疲软的人而言。如今，美国的淋浴市场具有多种选择，使消费者可以选择他们希望在淋浴系统中拥有的喷雾方式，材料，流量和添加剂（例如，细菌杀死化学物质）的类型。但是，我们对消费者选择淋浴的选择如何直接影响淋浴水和淋浴水中的DWPI的存在和数量有限的基本了解。该项目的总体目标是解决这一知识差距。为了促进这一目标，主要研究人员（PIS）将在实验性淋浴实验室中测试不同喷雾图案，水流量和添加剂的淋浴喷头，以测量和比较淋浴水和淋浴水生产的气溶胶中存在的DWPI的浓度。该项目的成功完成将通过产生新的数据和基本知识来使社会受益，这可以使消费者能够选择优先级健康的淋浴间，同时增强对DWPI在淋浴系统和建筑环境中的气化的基本了解。将通过学生的教育和培训来实现社会的其他好处，包括在匹兹堡大学指导一名研究生和一名本科生。饮用水相关病原体引起的肺部感染主要导致免疫功能低下的个体感染（DWPI）是美国发病率和死亡率的主要原因。尽管有许多DWPI，但肺炎军团，非结核分枝杆菌（NTM）和铜绿假单胞菌估计每年损失美国经济23.9亿美元。尽管DWPI暴露可以通过多种途径发生，但与水相关的气溶胶吸入最大程度与感染有关。气溶解是DWPIS传输途径的关键步骤，仍然对其进行了鲜为人知。具体而言，关于消费者淋浴间选择（喷雾方式，流量和材料添加剂）如何影响DWPI的毒力和从水到气溶胶相分配的知之甚少。这项研究的长期目标是定量评估不同淋浴设置产生的气溶胶带来的DWPI暴露风险，并确定是否选择了不同的设置以增加DWPI暴露和更具毒气的DWPI。这个目标将通过两个研究目标实现。目标1将在实验性淋浴实验室中测试一系列不同的淋浴喷头设置，并使用DDPCR中的淋浴水和NTM量化活性。目标2将结合基因组，动力学，生物膜聚集和巨噬细胞感染性测定，以研究Showerhead设置对生物体适应性和毒力的作用。这项研究的成功完成，通过产生新数据和基本知识，包括暴露的机理模型和对人类健康的风险与DWPIS在淋浴水和淋浴水中产生的气溶胶中的存在相关的风险。为了实施该项目的教育和培训目标，PIS提议利用匹兹堡大学（U Pitt）斯旺森工程学院的现有计划，例如Excel计划，以招募来自代表性不足的团体的招募和导师本科生来从事该项目。此外，PIS计划将项目研究结果集成到U Pitt的相关本科和研究生课程中。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子和更广泛影响的评估评估标准通过评估来支持的。