Making Waves: A justice-centred framework for wastewater-based public health surveillance.

Arefin, MR; Prouse, C; Wittmer, J; Amin, N; Assunção, M; Benezra, A; Chaudhuri, A; Diamond, M; Harshe, S; Hill-Tout, K; Koetz, V; Larsen, D; Mansfeldt, C; Melgaço, L; Nainani, D; Nair, AV; Naughton, CC; O'Donnell, M; Reimer, C; Robinson, P; Shelley, J; Srikantalah, V

Making Waves: A justice-centred framework for wastewater-based public health surveillance.

Arefin, MR Prouse, C Wittmer, J Amin, N Assunção, M Benezra, A Chaudhuri, A Diamond, M Harshe, S Hill-Tout, K Koetz, V Larsen, D Mansfeldt, C Melgaço, L Nainani, D Nair, AV Naughton, CC O'Donnell, M Reimer, C Robinson, P Shelley, J Srikantalah, V

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Publisher:: PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Water Res, 2025, 268, (Pt B), pp. 122747
Issue Date:: 2025-01-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Arefin, MR
dc.contributor.author	Prouse, C
dc.contributor.author	Wittmer, J
dc.contributor.author	Amin, N
dc.contributor.author	Assunção, M
dc.contributor.author	Benezra, A
dc.contributor.author	Chaudhuri, A
dc.contributor.author	Diamond, M
dc.contributor.author	Harshe, S
dc.contributor.author	Hill-Tout, K
dc.contributor.author	Koetz, V
dc.contributor.author	Larsen, D
dc.contributor.author	Mansfeldt, C
dc.contributor.author	Melgaço, L
dc.contributor.author	Nainani, D
dc.contributor.author	Nair, AV
dc.contributor.author	Naughton, CC
dc.contributor.author	O'Donnell, M
dc.contributor.author	Reimer, C
dc.contributor.author	Robinson, P
dc.contributor.author	Shelley, J
dc.contributor.author	Srikantalah, V
dc.date.accessioned	2025-08-04T00:49:32Z
dc.date.available	2024-11-02
dc.date.available	2025-08-04T00:49:32Z
dc.date.issued	2025-01-01
dc.identifier.citation	Water Res, 2025, 268, (Pt B), pp. 122747
dc.identifier.issn	0043-1354
dc.identifier.issn	1879-2448
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/188984
dc.description.abstract	Since 2020 wastewater-based surveillance has quickly been established as an effective and cost-efficient tool for monitoring public health. In this Making Waves article, we argue that these programs must be grounded in principles of justice to achieve global water and health equity. Ethics initiatives to date have focused primarily on privacy, legality, and institutionalised research reviews, often, if not exclusively, in North America and Western Europe. We draw from our interdisciplinary, multisectoral, and international expertise and experience to develop a justice-centred framework for wastewater-based surveillance. First, we identify common concerns across diverse surveillance programs including: defining community, transparency and accountability, and uneven geographies. Second, we draw on political theorist Nancy Fraser's framework of justice to evaluate site-specific practices identifying maldistribution, misrecognition, and exclusion. We suggest that Fraser's framework offers a common approach for evaluating just outcomes rather than specific regulations for governing wastewater surveillance across different and unequal contexts.
dc.format	Print-Electronic
dc.language	eng
dc.publisher	PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
dc.relation.ispartof	Water Res
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1016/j.watres.2024.122747
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject.classification	Environmental Engineering
dc.subject.mesh	Wastewater
dc.subject.mesh	Public Health Surveillance
dc.subject.mesh	Humans
dc.subject.mesh	Social Justice
dc.subject.mesh	Public Health
dc.subject.mesh	Environmental Monitoring
dc.subject.mesh	Humans
dc.subject.mesh	Public Health
dc.subject.mesh	Environmental Monitoring
dc.subject.mesh	Social Justice
dc.subject.mesh	Public Health Surveillance
dc.subject.mesh	Wastewater
dc.subject.mesh	Wastewater
dc.subject.mesh	Public Health Surveillance
dc.subject.mesh	Humans
dc.subject.mesh	Social Justice
dc.subject.mesh	Public Health
dc.subject.mesh	Environmental Monitoring
dc.title	Making Waves: A justice-centred framework for wastewater-based public health surveillance.
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	268
utslib.location.activity	England
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)/Institute For Sustainable Futures
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.rights.license	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
dc.date.updated	2025-08-04T00:49:29Z
pubs.issue	Pt B
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	268
utslib.citation.issue	Pt B

Abstract:

Since 2020 wastewater-based surveillance has quickly been established as an effective and cost-efficient tool for monitoring public health. In this Making Waves article, we argue that these programs must be grounded in principles of justice to achieve global water and health equity. Ethics initiatives to date have focused primarily on privacy, legality, and institutionalised research reviews, often, if not exclusively, in North America and Western Europe. We draw from our interdisciplinary, multisectoral, and international expertise and experience to develop a justice-centred framework for wastewater-based surveillance. First, we identify common concerns across diverse surveillance programs including: defining community, transparency and accountability, and uneven geographies. Second, we draw on political theorist Nancy Fraser's framework of justice to evaluate site-specific practices identifying maldistribution, misrecognition, and exclusion. We suggest that Fraser's framework offers a common approach for evaluating just outcomes rather than specific regulations for governing wastewater surveillance across different and unequal contexts.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/188984