Addressing Underestimation of Waterborne Disease Risks Due to Fecal Indicator Bacteria Bound in Aggregates (2024)

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bioRxiv article

bioRxiv article: "Addressing Underestimation of Waterborne Disease Risks Due to Fecal Indicator Bacteria Bound in Aggregates"

This article, uploaded as a bioRxiv preprint due to the urgency and importance of its findings, highlights significant limitations in traditional methods for detecting fecal indicator bacteria (FIB), such as E. coli, which fail to account for bacteria bound in aggregates, leading to substantially underestimated waterborne disease risks. ALERT technology, developed by Fluidion, is an automated rapid method for measuring both planktonic (free-floating) and comprehensive (including aggregate-bound bacteria) E.coli counts. In certain waters, the comprehensive measurement can provide much higher bacterial counts than traditional methods. The study underscores the need to update global water safety regulatory frameworks to include more accurate testing methods and automation, enhancing water quality monitoring and public health protection, and enabling monitoring in resource-limited or remote locations, which do not have access to laboratory services.

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Key points:

 

  • Limitations of Traditional Methods: The study highlights significant limitations in traditional culture-based methods for detecting fecal indicator bacteria (FIB), such as E. coli. These methods fail to account for bacteria bound in aggregates, leading to substantial underestimation of waterborne disease risks. This underestimation can severely skew public health risk assessments and highlights the limitations of the current regulatory frameworks to protect water users in waters containing fecal or sediment particles, such as urban rivers subject to combined sewer overflows.
  • ALERT Methodology: The research uses ALERT as a new technology for automated rapid method for comprehensive quantification of culturable bacteria. ALERT can measure both planktonic (free-floating) and comprehensive bacteria (which are bound in aggregates, such as on fecal or sediment particles), providing more accurate risk assessments. This method revealed that aggregate-bound bacteria are present in much higher quantities than detected by traditional methods, creating a major and currently non-monitored risk. This risk is particularly highlighted in the water of the Seine river in Paris, venue for the 2024 Olympic Triathlon and Marathon swimming events.
  • Implications for Water Safety: The study's findings underscore the need for updating global water safety regulatory frameworks to include methods that can accurately measure comprehensive E.coli counts, including aggreagate-bound bacteria. Incorporating such comprehensive methods can improve water quality monitoring, particularly in recreational and agricultural water uses, but also for drinking water assessment in remote locations without managed distribution networks. ALERT can better protect public health by providing more accurate risk assessments.
English (United Kingdom)