Citation:

Brenner, K P. "EPA'S NATIONAL BEACHES STUDY: HUNTINGTON BEACH, 2003". To be Presented at Ohio Environmental Health Association Meeting, Columbus, OH, April 20, 2004.

Impact/Purpose:

The objectives of this research are: (1) to evaluate rapid state-of-the-art measuement methods of pathogens that may indicate the presence of fecal pollution in recreational waters (beaches); (2) to obtain, jointly with a sister laboratory (NHEERL), a new set of water quality data and related health effects data at a variety of beaches across the U.S., in both marine and non-marine waters; (3) to analyze the research data set to evaluate the utility of the tested measurement methods, the new EMPACT monitoring protocol, and the health effects data / questionnaire, in order to establish a relationship between measured pathogens and observed health effects; and (4) to communicate the results to the Office of Water in support of their efforts to develop new state and/or federal guidelines and limits for water quality indicators of fecal contamination, so that beach managers and public health officials can alert the public about the potential health hazards before exposure to unsafe water can occur.

Description:

The original U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recreational water health studies, initiated in 1972 and completed in 1982, were designed to determine the relationship between swimming-associated gastroenteritis and the quality of the bathing water. However, these health studies, which were recommended to the states in 1986, used the old water monitoring protocol, based on the geometric mean of five samples per month, and methods which required at least 24 hours for results to become available. If the water was not in compliance with the standard, the risk of exposure to enteric pathogens had potentially occurred long before the quality of the water was identified as being hazardous. In order to meet the requirements of the Beach Act of 2000, a new health study, conducted jointly by the EPA National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL) and the National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (NHEERL), was initiated in the summer of 2003 to assist the Office of Water in formulating new health and risk guidelines for recreational water. This multi-year study used a modification of the new monitoring protocol developed in the EMPACT study of 2000, the standard membrane filter method for Enterococci (Method 1600 using mEI Agar), and several newly developed rapid methods, the Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (QPCR) for Enterococci and Bacteroides, and the RAPTOR Fiberoptic Biosensor for Bacteroides fragilis. The new health guidelines developed by the Office of Water using the data from this study will allow beach managers and public health officials to alert the public about the potential health hazards before exposure to unsafe water can occur. Water samples were collected on weekends and holidays in the summer of 2003 at two freshwater Great Lakes beaches, West Beach of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and Huntington Beach, Bay Village, Ohio, and health information was collected concurrently from the bathers at the beaches. The bathers were contacted 10-12 days later to find out the types and numbers of illnesses they experienced in the interim period. Preliminary results of this first year of the study showed that 75 % of the bathers at West Beach had contact with the water in some form (e.g., wading, body contact, head under the water, water in mouth, swallowed water, etc.), while only 46% of the bathers at Huntington Beach had water contact. Illness rates at Huntington Beach were higher in both the swimmers and non-swimmers than those at West Beach. Although high-credibility gastrointestinal illness (HCGI) and skin rash were associated with most types of exposure at both beaches, the adjusted odds ratios were lower at Huntington Beach. Overall, 23% of all West Beach water samples exceeded the recommended geometric mean of 33 Enterococci per 100 ml using Method 1600, while 45 % of the Huntington Beach water samples exceeded the limit with the same method. Median values of Method 1600 and the two QPCR methods were higher at Huntington Beach than at West Beach. The rapid QPCR methods showed promise for use in the development of new EPA guidelines for recreational water quality. The strongest trends with HCGI were observed with Enterococci QPCR at West Beach and with Bacteroides QPCR at Huntington Beach. However, the number of non-detects with the Bacteroides QPCR method were significantly higher because the assay is not as sensitive as the Enterococci QPCR. The results from the RAPTOR were not useful due to the low sensitivity of the instrument.

Record Details: