Definition and research guide
This page combines a MeSH definition, publication statistics and selected research abstracts. It is a starting point for reading the literature, not a medical textbook or a systematic evidence review.
Content available: 3 complete abstracts (472 words), 9 references. Full article text is not stored or reproduced here; follow the PMID, DOI or PMC links to read the original sources and their access terms.
Definition
Debris resulting from a process that is of no further use to the system producing it. The concept includes materials discharged from or stored in a system in inert form as a by-product of vital activities. (From Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, 1981)
Definition: NLM Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) scope note (Public domain (U.S. National Library of Medicine); attribution requested). View the MeSH record.
Also known as: Products, Waste; Product, Waste; Waste Product.
Where it fits in the MeSH classification
- Broader topics
- Complex Mixtures; Environmental Pollution
- Narrower topics
- Food Loss and Waste; Hazardous Waste; Industrial Waste; Medical Waste; Solid Waste; Wastewater; Electronic Waste
Research landscape
PubMed indexes 120,875 records tagged with the MeSH heading “Waste Products” (counts retrieved 2026-10-31). 45,121 of them (37.3%) were published from 2020 onward, and the busiest period so far is 2020 onward with 45,121 records.
Reviews account for 8,522 records (7.1%) and meta-analyses for 171. Randomized controlled trials number 48 (0.0%) as a share of all records on the topic. Randomized trials make up only a small share of this literature, so much of what is known comes from laboratory, observational or descriptive work.
Show the data
| Period | Records |
|---|---|
| through 1999 | 9,967 |
| 2000-2009 | 20,966 |
| 2010-2019 | 44,821 |
| 2020 onward | 45,121 |
Publication-type chart data
| Type | Records | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews | 8,522 | 7.1% |
| Meta-analyses | 171 | 0.1% |
| Randomized controlled trials | 48 | 0.0% |
Method: PubMed query "Waste Products"[MeSH Terms] with publication-type and date filters, retrieved 2026-10-31.
Reading the evidence in public health and nutrition
Population and nutrition studies mostly observe what people eat, breathe or are exposed to and then look for links with health, which shows association and not proof of cause. Self-reported diet is imprecise, people who eat or live differently also differ in other ways, and effects measured across a population may not apply to one person. Check the study design, how exposure was measured, what else was accounted for and the size of the effect, not only whether it was statistically significant.
Evidence from open-access studies
These open-access studies come from PubMed’s best-match results for this heading (papers whose main topic it is), ranked here by citation count, with one recent addition. Each abstract is reproduced in full under its recorded open licence so that you can read the authors’ own words. They illustrate the literature; they are not a systematic summary of it. Citation counts measure attention, not reliability or clinical benefit.
| Study / authors | Year | Source label / design | Europe PMC citations | Licence / source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real-time estimation of pathogen transmission dynamics from wastewater | 2026 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 2 | cc by PMID 42436148 · DOI · PMC13483917 |
| Evaluation of Detection Methods for Wastewater Surveillance of Antimicrobial-Resistant Bacteria from Healthcare Facilities | 2026 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 1 | cc by PMID 42536798 · DOI · PMC13585673 |
| SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance in a central Chinese metropolis: variant responses and correlation with clinical cases | 2026 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 1 | cc by PMID 42548766 · DOI · PMC13429599 |
Real-time estimation of pathogen transmission dynamics from wastewater [1]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Wastewater monitoring proved effective for tracking SARS-CoV-2 transmission during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Closing excerpt
- Our approach enables robust inference of transmission dynamics for lower-abundance pathogens with limited clinical surveillance, using only a few wastewater samples per week.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (194 words)
Wastewater monitoring proved effective for tracking SARS-CoV-2 transmission during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, estimating transmission parameters for other pathogens remains difficult due to lower concentrations in sewage, uncertain shedding kinetics, and limited clinical validation data. Here we present EpiSewer, a Bayesian semi-mechanistic wastewater model that jointly accounts for infection dynamics, pathogen shedding, and measurement noise, including outliers and non-detects. This enables direct inference of the effective reproduction number (Rt) and epidemic growth rate (rt) from raw concentration and flow data, eliminating the need for prior smoothing, imputation, or outlier removal. We assessed EpiSewer across three seasons of multi-pathogen wastewater surveillance (Nov 2022 - May 2025) at 6-14 treatment plants in Switzerland, tracking SARS-CoV-2, influenza A virus (IAV), and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) transmission in real time. Rt estimates were consistent and robust to measurement noise, even with IAV and RSV concentrations 10-50 times lower than SARS-CoV-2. The model provided well-calibrated fourteen-day concentration forecasts, with minimal bias across epidemic phases. Under reduced sampling frequencies, EpiSewer maintained unbiased forecasts while accurately reflecting uncertainty. Our approach enables robust inference of transmission dynamics for lower-abundance pathogens with limited clinical surveillance, using only a few wastewater samples per week.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 42436148 · DOI · PMC13483917
Evaluation of Detection Methods for Wastewater Surveillance of Antimicrobial-Resistant Bacteria from Healthcare Facilities [2]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Carbapenem resistance in bacteria is an urgent public health threat.
- Closing excerpt
- Wastewater surveillance for carbapenemases shows promise, but few clinical infections during the study period and contributions from sewer biofilms complicate correlations between wastewater measurements and clinical incidence, underscoring the need for further research.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (126 words)
Carbapenem resistance in bacteria is an urgent public health threat. Wastewater surveillance could support antimicrobial resistance monitoring at long-term care facilities. We assessed feasibility of wastewater sampling at such facilities for carbapenemase genes (blaKPC, blaVIM, blaOXA-48-like, blaNDM, and blaIMP) detected by quantitative PCR or GeneXpert Carba-R (Cepheid, https://www.cepheid.com) over 16 months and compared those findings with those for clinical infections. The blaKPC, blaOXA-48-like, and blaVIM genes were routinely detected in composite wastewater samples, passive samples, and sewer biofilm swab specimens. Wastewater and sewer biofilm resistomes differed, but both contained blaKPC, blaVIM, and blaIMP. Wastewater surveillance for carbapenemases shows promise, but few clinical infections during the study period and contributions from sewer biofilms complicate correlations between wastewater measurements and clinical incidence, underscoring the need for further research.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 42536798 · DOI · PMC13585673
SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance in a central Chinese metropolis: variant responses and correlation with clinical cases [3]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- ObjectiveThis study analyzed SARS-CoV-2 surveillance results in the urban wastewater of Zhengzhou, central China, to explore its association with community COVID-19 incidence and evaluate its early warning performance across different SARS-CoV-2 variant epidemic phases.
- Closing excerpt
- ConclusionThese findings supported the application value of wastewater-based epidemiology in post-pandemic COVID-19 surveillance, indicate its potential early warning capacity, and reveal notable heterogeneity in surveillance performance across viral variants and target genes.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (152 words)
ObjectiveThis study analyzed SARS-CoV-2 surveillance results in the urban wastewater of Zhengzhou, central China, to explore its association with community COVID-19 incidence and evaluate its early warning performance across different SARS-CoV-2 variant epidemic phases.MethodsWeekly monitoring was conducted at five representative wastewater treatment plants from May 2024 to July 2025, yielding 325 samples. Viral loads of the ORF1ab and N genes were quantified using RT-qPCR, with statistical analyses performed included Spearman correlation, ANOVA, and cross-correlation function.ResultsThe two target genes showed high consistency and significant positive correlation with 14-day cumulative COVID-19 incidence. However, significant variant and marked heterogeneity was observed across variant periods and gene targets, with the N gene outperforming ORF1ab in stability. Wastewater viral signals preceded clinical cases by one week.ConclusionThese findings supported the application value of wastewater-based epidemiology in post-pandemic COVID-19 surveillance, indicate its potential early warning capacity, and reveal notable heterogeneity in surveillance performance across viral variants and target genes.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 42548766 · DOI · PMC13429599
Key reviews and meta-analyses
The most cited review-type papers among PubMed’s best-match results for this heading, listed with bibliographic details only. Follow the links for the full text and access terms.
- Research article Comparison of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes abundance in hospital and community wastewater: A systematic review [4]
- Research article Influence of temperature and pH on the anammox process: A review and meta-analysis [5]
- Research article Can We Swim Yet? Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis, and Risk Assessment of Aging Sewage in Surface Waters [6]
- Research article Impacts of organics on the microbial ecology of wastewater anammox processes: Recent advances and meta-analysis [7]
- Research article Risk management of viral infectious diseases in wastewater reclamation and reuse: Review [8]
- Research article Organic Contaminants in Chinese Sewage Sludge: A Meta-Analysis of the Literature of the Past 30 Years [9]
References
- Lison A, McLeod RE, Huisman JS, Munday JD, Ort C, Julian TR, et al.. Real-time estimation of pathogen transmission dynamics from wastewater. . 2026. PMID 42436148 · DOI · PMC13483917
- Warren E, VanDerslice J, Benson LS, Brazelton WJ, Tanner W, Lyons AK, et al.. Evaluation of Detection Methods for Wastewater Surveillance of Antimicrobial-Resistant Bacteria from Healthcare Facilities. . 2026. PMID 42536798 · DOI · PMC13585673
- Zhang X, Zhang J, Zhao Q, Ma X, Lv L, Ma H, et al.. SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance in a central Chinese metropolis: variant responses and correlation with clinical cases. . 2026. PMID 42548766 · DOI · PMC13429599
- Hassoun-Kheir N, Stabholz Y, Kreft JU, de la Cruz R, Romalde JL, Nesme J, et al.. Comparison of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes abundance in hospital and community wastewater: A systematic review. Sci Total Environ. 2020. PMID 32758846 · DOI
- Tomaszewski M, Cema G, Ziembińska-Buczyńska A. Influence of temperature and pH on the anammox process: A review and meta-analysis. Chemosphere. 2017. PMID 28499181 · DOI
- Boehm AB, Graham KE, Jennings WC. Can We Swim Yet? Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis, and Risk Assessment of Aging Sewage in Surface Waters. Environ Sci Technol. 2018. PMID 30080397 · DOI
- Xiao R, Ni BJ, Liu S, Lu H. Impacts of organics on the microbial ecology of wastewater anammox processes: Recent advances and meta-analysis. Water Res. 2021. PMID 33461083 · DOI
- Sano D, Amarasiri M, Hata A, Watanabe T, Katayama H. Risk management of viral infectious diseases in wastewater reclamation and reuse: Review. Environ Int. 2016. PMID 26985655 · DOI · PMC7111293
- Meng XZ, Venkatesan AK, Ni YL, Steele JC, Wu LL, Bignert A, et al.. Organic Contaminants in Chinese Sewage Sludge: A Meta-Analysis of the Literature of the Past 30 Years. Environ Sci Technol. 2016. PMID 27144960 · DOI
About this article
- Sources
- NLM Medical Subject Headings (definition, synonyms); NCBI PubMed (counts, identifiers); Europe PMC (open-access abstracts and citation counts).
- Verification
- Every reference was resolved against PubMed on 2026-11-04; title, year and DOI matched.
- Review state
- automated source verified; no human expert review has been recorded yet.
- Version
- 1, last updated 2026-11-04.
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Evidence strength
EvidenceHelix's computed view of the study designs behind this topic: how common meta-analyses, randomized trials and reviews are, how recent the literature is, and a plain-language reading. It describes the design mix of the literature. It is not a quality appraisal of any study, and it is not medical advice.