Abstract
To estimate the quality of coastal waters, European Union Directive 2006/7/EC provides guidelines to assess levels of faecal bacteria, including Escherichia coli and intestinal enterococci. These microbiological criteria are based on studies that determine the risk of bathers having diseases caused by enteric bacteria, not necessarily measuring the potential danger associated with the presence of nonenteric pathogens. The association between the presence of faecal contaminant indicators and nonenteric pathogenic microorganisms has not been well defined yet. The purpose of this study is to establish a relationship between Pseudomonas aeruginosa and microbiological indicators of faecal contamination. Presence of microbiological contamination in the coastal waters near the sewage treatment plant (STP) of Peniche (Portugal) was confirmed (P. aeruginosa 135.8 Colony Forming Unit/100 mL, Escherichia coli 1100.1 Most Probable Number/100 mL, intestinal enterococci 2685.9 MPN/100 mL) with much lower levels in the areas located south of the STP, along the main water coastal current (beach 1: 0.7 CFU/100 mL, 16.5 MPN/100 mL, 100.5 MPN/100 mL; beach 2: 0.3 CFU/100 mL, 74.0 MPN/100 mL, 145.9 MPN/100 mL, respectively). Analysis of Pearson’s correlation revealed a strong positive correlation between E. coli and P. aeruginosa, suggesting E. coli as an indicator of P. aeruginosa presence.
Highlights
Beaches and coastal areas provide pleasant recreational environments, leading to an increase in tourism demand that has stimulated the development of these areas [1]
The monitoring programs that are in place to assess the quality of bathing waters at the microbiological level are based on counts of bacterial indicators related to faecal contamination, such as Escherichia coli and intestinal enterococci [6]
Taking into account the results found in a study from Mariño and coworkers, where a positive correlation was found between skin infections and the presence of P. aeruginosa in seawater [14], this opportunistic bacteria [13] might better serve to indicate the occurrence of some nonfaecal pathogens in bathing waters [12]
Summary
Beaches and coastal areas provide pleasant recreational environments, leading to an increase in tourism demand that has stimulated the development of these areas [1]. The monitoring programs that are in place to assess the quality of bathing waters at the microbiological level are based on counts of bacterial indicators related to faecal contamination, such as Escherichia coli and intestinal enterococci [6]. Members of the European Union states apply the European Bathing Water Directive (Directive 2006/7/EC) [7] to monitor and characterize the quality of coastal bathing waters. This directive defines criteria for categorizing bathing water in four different levels—poor, sufficient, good, or excellent—based on microbial quality, by specifying the acceptable counts of E. coli and intestinal enterococci, which are monitored as microbiological parameters [8,9,10]
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