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Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment of Freshwater Impacted by Animal Fecal Material (proceedings)
Citation:
Soller, J., T. Bartrand, M. Molina, G. Whelan, M. Schoen, AND N. Ashbolt. Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment of Freshwater Impacted by Animal Fecal Material (proceedings). In Proceedings, 7th Intl. Congress on Env. Modelling and Software, San Diego, CA, June 15 - 19, 2014. International Environmental Modelling and Software Society, Manno, Switzerland, 1521-1526, (2014).
Impact/Purpose:
Proceedings for 7th Intl. Congress on Env. Modelling and Software
Description:
We evaluated the potential for human illness from a hypothetical recreational exposure to freshwater that was impacted by land-applied, agricultural animal fecal material. The scenario included 1) fresh cattle manure, pig slurry, or chicken litter (fecal material) land-applied, adjacent to a freshwater waterbody at standard agronomic rates (based on nutrient management); 2) fecal materials containing fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) and pathogens of public health concern (reference pathogens) at levels reported in peer-reviewed literature; 3) FIB and reference pathogens mobilized via runoff at rates estimated from our rainfall simulation experiments; 4) primary recreational contact (e.g., swimming) occurring in undiluted runoff at the edge of the waterbody or in diluted runoff containing specific reference levels of FIB in the waterbody; and 5) exposure to reference pathogens occurring through ingestion of water during recreation. We present quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) model results based on this exposure scenario. We also compare results to our previously published work addressing direct contamination to freshwater. Finally, we discuss management considerations and implications for site-specific water quality criteria.
