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Contact with beach sand, concentrations of fecal indicators, and enteric illness risk
Citation:
Heaney, Christopher, E. A. SAMS, K. P. BRENNER, R. A. HAUGLAND, L. J. WYMER, A. P. DUFOUR, AND T. J. WADE. Contact with beach sand, concentrations of fecal indicators, and enteric illness risk. Presented at BEACHES conference, Huntington Beach, CA, April 20 - 22, 2009.
Impact/Purpose:
research results
Description:
Recent studies ofbeach sand fecal contamination have triggered interest among scientists and in the media. Although evidence shows that beach sand can harbor fecal indicator organisms as well as fecal pathogens, illness risk associated with beach sand contact and fecal indicators is unclear. During 2003-2005 and 2007 beach visitors at four freshwater beaches on Lake Michigan and Lake Erie and three marine beaches in Alabama, Mississippi, and Rhode Island were enrolled in the study and asked about sand contact the day oftheir visit to the beach (digging in the sand; body buried in the sand). Ten to 12 days later participants were telephoned to answer questions about health symptoms experienced since the visit. At two beaches studied in 2007, beach sand was analyzed for concentrations ofEnterococcus, Bacteroides, B. thetaiotaomicron, and F'