Ethical Considerations for Wastewater Surveillance Conducted by the US Department of Defense
AbstractThe US Department of Defense (DoD) is establishing its wastewater surveillance capacities to support national security objectives and promote the public health and medical readiness of US service members. Wastewater surveillance is an emerging technology that has traditionally bee...
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JMIR Publications
2025-02-01
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| Series: | JMIR Public Health and Surveillance |
| Online Access: | https://publichealth.jmir.org/2025/1/e67145 |
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| author | Hunter Jackson Smith Richard T Agans William J Kowallis |
| author_facet | Hunter Jackson Smith Richard T Agans William J Kowallis |
| author_sort | Hunter Jackson Smith |
| collection | DOAJ |
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AbstractThe US Department of Defense (DoD) is establishing its wastewater surveillance capacities to support national security objectives and promote the public health and medical readiness of US service members. Wastewater surveillance is an emerging technology that has traditionally been leveraged for detecting infectious diseases. However, its potential future applications could yield a vast and unpredictable amount of information that could be used for a wide variety of both health- and nonhealth-related purposes. The US military also serves an inimitable role for the country and its citizens, and exercises significant levels of control over its service members compared to civilian organizations. Further, its present and potential wastewater surveillance activities may reach far beyond just military installations. These factors raise unique ethical considerations that must be accounted for by leaders and policymakers to ensure the DoD implements a wastewater surveillance network in a manner that is both impactful in supporting public health and appropriate to the scope and population under surveillance. This paper explores important ethical features in conducting wastewater surveillance that are both specific to the DoD experience and applicable to wider public health initiatives. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b07dfd687a3a49cb8dea91d24b0a36bf |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2369-2960 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
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| series | JMIR Public Health and Surveillance |
| spelling | doaj-art-b07dfd687a3a49cb8dea91d24b0a36bf2025-08-20T02:13:48ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Public Health and Surveillance2369-29602025-02-0111e67145e6714510.2196/67145Ethical Considerations for Wastewater Surveillance Conducted by the US Department of DefenseHunter Jackson Smithhttp://orcid.org/0000-0002-3591-588XRichard T Aganshttp://orcid.org/0009-0006-6308-3538William J Kowallishttp://orcid.org/0009-0006-0794-5316 AbstractThe US Department of Defense (DoD) is establishing its wastewater surveillance capacities to support national security objectives and promote the public health and medical readiness of US service members. Wastewater surveillance is an emerging technology that has traditionally been leveraged for detecting infectious diseases. However, its potential future applications could yield a vast and unpredictable amount of information that could be used for a wide variety of both health- and nonhealth-related purposes. The US military also serves an inimitable role for the country and its citizens, and exercises significant levels of control over its service members compared to civilian organizations. Further, its present and potential wastewater surveillance activities may reach far beyond just military installations. These factors raise unique ethical considerations that must be accounted for by leaders and policymakers to ensure the DoD implements a wastewater surveillance network in a manner that is both impactful in supporting public health and appropriate to the scope and population under surveillance. This paper explores important ethical features in conducting wastewater surveillance that are both specific to the DoD experience and applicable to wider public health initiatives.https://publichealth.jmir.org/2025/1/e67145 |
| spellingShingle | Hunter Jackson Smith Richard T Agans William J Kowallis Ethical Considerations for Wastewater Surveillance Conducted by the US Department of Defense JMIR Public Health and Surveillance |
| title | Ethical Considerations for Wastewater Surveillance Conducted by the US Department of Defense |
| title_full | Ethical Considerations for Wastewater Surveillance Conducted by the US Department of Defense |
| title_fullStr | Ethical Considerations for Wastewater Surveillance Conducted by the US Department of Defense |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ethical Considerations for Wastewater Surveillance Conducted by the US Department of Defense |
| title_short | Ethical Considerations for Wastewater Surveillance Conducted by the US Department of Defense |
| title_sort | ethical considerations for wastewater surveillance conducted by the us department of defense |
| url | https://publichealth.jmir.org/2025/1/e67145 |
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