5 documents found, page 1 of 1
Strategies for Monitoring Microbial Life in Beach Sand for Protection of Public...
Brandão, João; Valério, Elisabete; Weiskerger, Chelsea; Veríssimo, Cristina; Sarioglou, Konstantina; Novak Babič, Monika; Solo-Gabriele, Helena M.The 2021 revised guidelines of the World Health Organization recommend monitoring the quality of sand in addition to water at recreational beaches. This review provides background information about the types of beaches, the characteristics of sand, and the microbiological parameters that should be measured. Analytical approaches are described for quantifying fungi and fecal indicator bacteria from beach sand. T...
Health risk posed by direct ingestion of yeasts from polluted river water
Steffen, Heidi Christa; Smith, Katrin; van Deventer, Corné; Weiskerger, Chelsea; Bosch, Caylin; Brandão, João; Wolfaardt, Gideon; Botha, AlfredRiver water is an essential human resource that may be contaminated with hazardous microorganisms. However, the risk of yeast infection through river water exposure is unclear because it is highly dependant on individual susceptibility and has therefore not been well-studied, to date. To evaluate this undefined risk, we analysed the fungal communities in less polluted (LP) and highly polluted (HP) river water, ...
Climate Change Impacts on Microbiota in Beach Sand and Water: Looking Ahead
Brandão, João; Weiskerger, Chelsea; Valério, Elisabete; Pitkänen, Tarja; Meriläinen, Päivi; Avolio, Lindsay; Heaney, Christopher D.Beach sand and water have both shown relevance for human health and their microbiology have been the subjects of study for decades. Recently, the World Health Organization recommended that recreational beach sands be added to the matrices monitored for enterococci and Fungi. Global climate change is affecting beach microbial contamination, via changes to conditions like water temperature, sea level, precipitati...
Effects of a Changing Earth on Microbial Dynamics and Human Health Risks in the...
Weiskerger, Chelsea; Brandão, João; Robinson, Clare; Staley, Chris M.; Kleinheinz, Greg; Nshimyimana, Jean Pierre; Kinzelman, Julie; Nevers, Meredith BHumans may be exposed to microbial pathogens at recreational beaches via environmental sources such as water and sand. Although infectious disease risk from exposure to waterborne pathogens, and the fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) used to monitor water quality are active areas of research, sand is a relatively unexplored reservoir of pathogens and FIB. Sand and water at beaches experience continuous exchange of ...
Incorporating Sand Dynamics into Beach Water Quality Science and Policy
Weiskerger, Chelsea; Brandão, JoãoWater quality monitoring and science at nearshore/beach areas is largely limited to microbial/bacterial contamination of water. However, recent research has found that the sand at beaches can be more contaminated than the water itself. Given that most beachgoers spend more time in the sand than the water, they are potentially exposing themselves to higher concentrations of microbes than previously thought. Dyna...