Distinguishing between human and animal sources of fecal pollution in waters: a review

Abstract

This review paper discusses some of the earlier and current methods used to identify the human and non-human sources of fecal pollution in water. It is mainly focused on chemical approaches, i.e., fecal sterol and bile acid biomarkers, to identify the sources of fecal pollution. Findings of our study are in agreement with earlier investigations, that it is unlikely for any single determinant to be useful in all situations but a multiple biomarker approach or statistical analysis of microbial and chemical determinants offer the possibility of identifying and apportioning human and animal fecal inputs to natural waters.Keywords: bifidobacteria; bacteriophages of bacteriodes; fecal sterols and bile acid; FC/FS ratio; F-specific RNA coliphages; human enteric viruses.Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Tyagi, P., Edwards, D.R., and Coyne, M.S. (2009) 'Distinguishing between human and animal sources of fecal pollution in waters: a review', Int.

Are fecal stanols suitable to record and identify a pulse of human fecal contamination in short-term exposed shellfish? A microcosm study

“…Their distribution in feces depends on i) the animal's diet, ii) the ability of animals to biosynthesize endogenous sterols and iii) the composition of the intestinal flora responsible for sterol biohydrogenation into stanols (Leeming et al, 1996). This species-specific distribution, called the "stanol fingerprint" has been successfully used, via the analysis of stanol ratios or by multivariate analyses, to distinguish between human and animal fecal contamination in water, soil, and 4 sediment (Bull et al, 2002;Jardé et al, 2007;Shah et al, 2007;Jardé et al, 2009;Tyagi et al, 2009;Gourmelon et al, 2010, Derrien et al, 2011Biache and Philp, 2013). Moreover, stanols are sufficiently persistent in the environment to be transferred from the watershed to seawater where the shellfish are living (Solecki et al, 2011;Jeanneau et al, 2012).…”

Sewage Treatment Plants Efficiencies in Removal of Sterols and Sterol Ratios as Indicators of Fecal Contamination Sources

“…Source tracking methods to identify sources of fecal contamination generally target either chemical or microbial indicators (Gilpin et al 2003;Hagedorn and Weisberg 2009;Leeming et al 1997;Tyagi et al 2009). Individual fecal sterols and various sterol ratios have been utilized for some time as chemical markers for sewage and agricultural contamination (de Castro Martins et al 2007;Leeming et al 1996;Zhang et al 2008).…”

Use of Enterococcus, BST and Sterols for Poultry Pollution Source Tracking in Surface and Groundwater

“…As a result, microbiologists and organic chemists have explored the usefulness of many different markers for conclusively isolating sources of fecal pollution (Balleste et al, 2010;Blanch et al, 2004;Tyagi et al, 2009a). The over-arching conclusion of these studies was that a battery of markers is required to accurately ascribe fecal pollution source.…”

“…Pollution source identification is crucial in order to improve best management practices and eliminate consequent health risks to the general public and aquatic ecosystems. Distinguishing between human and animal sources of fecal pollution in water has been a subject of many studies (Tyagi et al, 2009a). Microbial source tracking methods have employed a wide range of micro-organisms (e.g., fecal coliforms, total coliforms, bifidobacteria, E. coli, enterococci) for identifying sources of water pollution, but each has certain limitations (Tyagi et al, 2009a).…”

“…Distinguishing between human and animal sources of fecal pollution in water has been a subject of many studies (Tyagi et al, 2009a). Microbial source tracking methods have employed a wide range of micro-organisms (e.g., fecal coliforms, total coliforms, bifidobacteria, E. coli, enterococci) for identifying sources of water pollution, but each has certain limitations (Tyagi et al, 2009a). Moreover, many microbes are not hostspecific, making them ineffective for source identification.…”