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Public notification implications of monitoring Michigan beaches with EPA qPCR methods
Citation:
Haugland, Rich AND S. Briggs. Public notification implications of monitoring Michigan beaches with EPA qPCR methods. Great Lakes Beach and Water Safety Conference, Independence, OH, October 23 - 25, 2018.
Impact/Purpose:
Inform national, state and local public health officials and scientists on the current status of EPA efforts to support implementation of rapid recreational beach monitoring by quantitative PCR methods in Michigan.
Description:
The updated Recreation Water Quality Criteria published in 2012 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) includes recommended water quality criteria and beach advisory values for enterococci fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) estimated by qPCR. Research leading to these values has demonstrated that enterococci densities estimated by the qPCR technique can show a strong positive relationship with illness rates among beach recreators and it is widely recognized that PCR methods offer the potential for more rapid notifications of recreational water quality than currently used culture methods. Studies are in progress to evaluate the implications of monitoring recreational beaches in the state of Michigan with qPCR methods including EPA Method 1609 for enterococci and EPA Draft Method C for E. coli. Well over 2000 water samples from over 70 inland and Great Lakes beach sites in the state have been analyzed thus far by these methods as well as by a state-accepted culture method for E. coli (ColilertTM). This presentation will describe findings on the frequency of beach advisories that would result from the use of Method 1609 and ColilertTM as well as statistical approaches being used to assess the relationships between Draft Method C, Method 1609 and ColilertTM results including the EPA's Technical Support Materials for Alternative Indicators and Methods.
