Researchers "Get their feet wet": New method to check water bacterial content conducted in Great Lakes.

By: Albert Gonzalez 

This image shows the different sites bed sediment and suspended sediment were collected in the Great Lakes area. The areas included are Sandpoint (SP), Belle River (BR), Holiday Conservation (HD), Kingsville (KV), Leamington (LE) and Point Pelee (PP). Areas where suspended sediment was collected include BR and KV, highlighted with orange icons. Figure taken from VanMensel et al. 2023.

    One of the best activities on a hot day is to go to a lake and have a quick swim. However, an important thing to be considerate of is the contamination of the water you plan to dip into. It is an ever-growing reality that microbial pollution in bodies of water can lead to exposure of a waterborne disease. A new study in the Great Lakes area was completed to estimate the amount of harmful microbes in a lake's sediment. Usually, collection of water itself is the tried and true method of testing water quality. But, examining sediment near a body of water can be another way to do so. In this study, VanMensel and colleagues used a method of gene searching named PCR (polymerase chain reaction). This technique allowed for the search of RNA (a gene component) associated with bacteria that pose a risk to human health. The genes inspected included those of bacteria that can show the amount of fecal matter in a water source, fecal indicator bacteria. With this research, a new way of checking how much microbial pollution in water systems was created. It is very important to have access to multiple ways to inspect bodies of water, especially those used by humans for a little bit of fun. 

Original article: 

VanMensel, D. et al. (2023)Microbe–sediment interactions in Great Lakes recreational waters: Implications for human health risk. Environmental Microbiology Volume 25, Issue 9:1605-1623.