Abstract
The purpose of this research was to study the presence of potential pathogenic bacteria in the seawater and air in five coastal towns (Hel, Puck, Gdynia, Sopot, Gdańsk-Brzeźno) as well as the enrichment of bacteria from the seawater into the coastal air after an emergency discharge of sewage into the Bay of Gdańsk. A total of 594 samples of air and seawater were collected in the coastal zone between spring and summer (between 2014 and 2018). Air samples were collected using the impact method with a SAS Super ISO 100. The multivariate analysis, conducted using contingency tables, showed a statistically significant variation between the concentration of coliforms, psychrophilic and mesophilic bacteria in the seawater microlayer and air in 2018, after an emergency discharge of sewage into the Bay of Gdańsk, compared to 2014–2017. Moreover, we detected a marine aerosol enrichment in psychrophilic, mesophilic bacteria, coliforms and Escherichia coli. We also showed a statistically significant relationship between the total concentration of bacteria and humidity, air temperature, speed and wind direction. This increased concentration of bacteria in the seawater and coastal air, and the high factor of air enrichment with bacteria maybe associated with the emergency discharge of wastewater into the Bay of Gdańsk. Therefore, it is suggested that in the event of a malfunction of a sewage treatment plant, as well as after floods or sudden rainfall, the public should be informed about the sanitary and epidemiological status of the coastal waters and be recommended to limit their use of coastal leisure areas.
Highlights
The purpose of this research was to study the presence of potential pathogenic bacteria in the seawater and air in five coastal towns (Hel, Puck, Gdynia, Sopot, Gdańsk-Brzeźno) as well as the enrichment of bacteria from the seawater into the coastal air after an emergency discharge of sewage into the Bay of Gdańsk
The latest research shows that seawater pollution with potentially pathogenic bacteria belonging to faecal streptococci (Enterococci), coliforms or Escherichia coli is a significant threat to human health[7,8,9,10]
We assessed the enrichment of bacteria of the coastal air, over the Bay of Gdańsk, from the surface microlayer (SML) by the eruption of rising bubbles, based on the data obtained in Hel, Puck, Gdynia, Sopot and Gdańsk-Brzeźno
Summary
The purpose of this research was to study the presence of potential pathogenic bacteria in the seawater and air in five coastal towns (Hel, Puck, Gdynia, Sopot, Gdańsk-Brzeźno) as well as the enrichment of bacteria from the seawater into the coastal air after an emergency discharge of sewage into the Bay of Gdańsk. The multivariate analysis, conducted using contingency tables, showed a statistically significant variation between the concentration of coliforms, psychrophilic and mesophilic bacteria in the seawater microlayer and air in 2018, after an emergency discharge of sewage into the Bay of Gdańsk, compared to 2014–2017. We showed a statistically significant relationship between the total concentration of bacteria and humidity, air temperature, speed and wind direction This increased concentration of bacteria in the seawater and coastal air, and the high factor of air enrichment with bacteria maybe associated with the emergency discharge of wastewater into the Bay of Gdańsk. We presented the results about the increase of potentially pathogenic mesophilic bacteria in the seawater and coastal air in 2018 after an emergency discharge of raw sewage from the Gdańsk–Wschód wastewater plant into the Bay of Gdańsk[36]. The failure of the sewage pumping station in the Bay of Gdańsk offered a unique opportunity to investigate the effects of sewage discharges on bacterial enrichment of coastal air
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