Semi-quantitative evaluation of fecal contamination potential by human and ruminant sources using multiple lines of evidence

Stoeckel, Donald M.; Stelzer, Erin A.; Stogner, Robert W.; Mau, David P.

doi:10.1016/j.watres.2011.03.037

Cited by 23 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Our previous work on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico demonstrated that environmental perturbation, in that case petroleum contamination, can alter the structure and function of microbial communities in beach sand, which we characterized using next-generation sequencing technologies (15). The relationship between water quality and land use types has also been well documented (40)(41)(42)(43)(44). Likewise, perturbations resulting from urbanization may also be reflected in sand communities.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Influence of Land Use, Nutrients, and Geography on Microbial Communities and Fecal Indicator Abundance at Lake Michigan Beaches

Cloutier

Alm

McLellan

2015

Appl Environ Microbiol

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bMicrobial communities within beach sand play a key role in nutrient cycling and are important to the nearshore ecosystem function. Escherichia coli and enterococci, two common indicators of fecal pollution, have been shown to persist in the beach sand, but little is known about how microbial community assemblages are related to these fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) reservoirs. We examined eight beaches across a geographic gradient and range of land use types and characterized the indigenous community structure in the water and the backshore, berm, and submerged sands. FIB were found at similar levels in sand at beaches adjacent to urban, forested, and agricultural land and in both the berm and backshore. However, there were striking differences in the berm and backshore microbial communities, even within the same beach, reflecting the very different environmental conditions in these beach zones in which FIB can survive. In contrast, the microbial communities in a particular beach zone were similar among beaches, including at beaches on opposite shores of Lake Michigan. The differences in the microbial communities that did exist within a beach zone correlated to nutrient levels, which varied among geographic locations. Total organic carbon and total phosphorus were higher in Wisconsin beach sand than in beach sand from Michigan. Within predominate genera, finescale sequence differences could be found that distinguished the populations from the two states, suggesting a biogeographic effect. This work demonstrates that microbial communities are reflective of environmental conditions at freshwater beaches and are able to provide useful information regarding long-term anthropogenic stress. Since the creation of the Federal Beach Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health (BEACH) Act of 2000, coastal communities have been challenged with implementing programs for the monitoring of recreational waters. Water quality monitoring relies on fecal indicator bacteria (FIB), such as Escherichia coli and enterococci, and the assumption that both are fecal in origin. In recent years, many Great Lakes coastal recreational waters were monitored for the first time and subsequently were found to have unacceptable levels of E. coli, indicating the presence of contamination from sources such as sewage, stormwater, or agricultural runoff. However, recent studies have detected high concentrations of FIB in recreational beach sands compared to the concentrations in the nearby monitored waters (1-4). Importantly, several studies have documented that sand reservoirs of FIB play a large role in beach water samples exceeding regulatory limits (1, 3, 5-7).Persistent FIB in the beach environment is of great concern. The presence of FIB in either recreational waters or sand is assumed to indicate a recent pollution event. However, the persistence and possible proliferation of FIB in the beach environment can confound beach-monitoring efforts and poses additional challenges for beach managers. In addition, there is mounting evidence that E. co...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Influence of Land Use, Nutrients, and Geography on Microbial Communities and Fecal Indicator Abundance at Lake Michigan Beaches

Cloutier

Alm

McLellan

2015

Appl Environ Microbiol

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“…The HF183 marker has been detected in feces of other animals (e.g. livestock, domestic animals), but at a much lower concentration (2e4 orders of magnitude) than in human sewage or feces (Ahmed et al, 2012;Stoeckel et al, 2011). Furthermore, Caldwell et al (2007) showed that bovine mtDNA could be detected in feces of two out of sixteen human volunteers, both having eaten beef the previous day.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In parallel, we used the Bacteroidales HF183 marker, a commonly used FST marker for human fecal contamination (Ahmed et al, 2012;Chase et al, 2012;Edge et al, 2010;Fremaux et al, 2009;Green et al, 2014;Harwood et al, 2014;Marti et al, 2013;Ravaliya et al, 2014;Sauer et al, 2011;Schill and Mathes, 2008;Stoeckel et al, 2011;Tambalo et al, 2012b;Vuong et al, 2013), for assessing the robustness of using mtDNA as a human FST marker. Quantitative PCR was used to measure the concentration of human and bovine mtDNA along with the HF183 marker.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An environmental survey of surface waters using mitochondrial DNA from human, bovine and porcine origin as fecal source tracking markers

et al. 2015

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“…As the field has matured, the need to account for sources of quantitative error has been increasingly recognized (11,21,38,44,54); however, there is little agreement in the literature on how this difficult goal should be accomplished. The tactics employed to assess and remove the effect of inhibitory compounds vary, ranging from simple template dilution (9) to addition of synthetic DNA sequences to reactions as internal controls (19,38,45,54). Salmon sperm DNA has been used as a dual control for recovery through sample processing and inhibition (54).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance of Two Quantitative PCR Methods for Microbial Source Tracking of Human Sewage and Implications for Microbial Risk Assessment in Recreational Waters

Staley

Gordon

Schoen

et al. 2012

Appl Environ Microbiol

139

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Before new, rapid quantitative PCR (qPCR) methods for assessment of recreational water quality and microbial source tracking (MST) can be useful in a regulatory context, an understanding of the ability of the method to detect a DNA target (marker) when the contaminant source has been diluted in environmental waters is needed. This study determined the limits of detection and quantification of the human-associated Bacteroides sp. (HF183) and human polyomavirus (HPyV) qPCR methods for sewage diluted in buffer and in five ambient, Florida water types (estuarine, marine, tannic, lake, and river). HF183 was quantifiable in sewage diluted up to 10 ؊6 in 500-ml ambient-water samples, but HPyVs were not quantifiable in dilutions of >10 ؊4 . Specificity, which was assessed using fecal composites from dogs, birds, and cattle, was 100% for HPyVs and 81% for HF183. Quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) estimated the possible norovirus levels in sewage and the human health risk at various sewage dilutions. When juxtaposed with the MST marker detection limits, the QMRA analysis revealed that HF183 was detectable when the modeled risk of gastrointestinal (GI) illness was at or below the benchmark of 10 illnesses per 1,000 exposures, but the HPyV method was generally not sensitive enough to detect potential health risks at the 0.01 threshold for frequency of illness. The tradeoff between sensitivity and specificity in the MST methods indicates that HF183 data should be interpreted judiciously, preferably in conjunction with a more host-specific marker, and that better methods of concentrating HPyVs from environmental waters are needed if this method is to be useful in a watershed management or monitoring context. Fecal indicator bacteria (FIB), including fecal coliforms, Escherichia coli, and enterococci, have been approved indicators of sewage contamination in recreational waters for decades (49, 51). Swimmers exposed to waters contaminated with sewage are at a greater risk of infection by human pathogens, and subsequent gastrointestinal or other illnesses, than those exposed to unimpacted waters (57). The use of FIB to detect sewage contamination, however, relies on the assumptions that elevated FIB concentrations are representative of pathogen presence and that the fate of these bacteria mimics that of pathogens. Unfortunately, previous studies have shown that concentrations of FIB do not necessarily correlate well with bacterial, protozoan, and viral pathogens (2,20).To address the limitations of FIB, microbial source tracking (MST) methods have been developed to identify human fecal contamination (e.g., sewage) in recreational waters (7, 32). These methods are culture independent and are therefore more rapid than FIB methodologies that require a culture step. The potential for same-day results provides the possibility of advisories that reflect current conditions, rather than day-old ones, which allows more-immediate action to protect against public health risks posed by recreational water use (12, 56). The selecti...

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Semi-quantitative evaluation of fecal contamination potential by human and ruminant sources using multiple lines of evidence

Cited by 23 publications

References 31 publications

Influence of Land Use, Nutrients, and Geography on Microbial Communities and Fecal Indicator Abundance at Lake Michigan Beaches

Influence of Land Use, Nutrients, and Geography on Microbial Communities and Fecal Indicator Abundance at Lake Michigan Beaches

An environmental survey of surface waters using mitochondrial DNA from human, bovine and porcine origin as fecal source tracking markers

Performance of Two Quantitative PCR Methods for Microbial Source Tracking of Human Sewage and Implications for Microbial Risk Assessment in Recreational Waters

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