Human wastewater is a threat to public health and coastal aquatic ecosystems with contamination of surface waters and groundwaters by excessive organic matter, nutrients, pathogens, pharmaceuticals, microplastics and other chemicals. Nutrient over-enrichment results in HABs, habitat loss, hypoxic and anoxic zones. Fecal pathogens cause pollution and loss of shellfisheries, diseases in corals and marine mammals, and threats to human recreational activities.
Wading in waste
Michael A. Mallin, Scientific American
Further Research
- Griffin et al. 2002. Marine recreation and public health microbiology: quest for the ideal indicator.
- Harwood et al. 2014. Microbial source tracking markers for detection of fecal contamination in environmental waters: relationships between pathogens and human health incomes.
- Harwood et al. 2009. Validation and field testing of library-independent microbial source tracking methods in the Gulf of Mexico.
- Katz et al. 2010. Fate of the effluent-borne contaminates beneath septic tank drainfields overlying a karst aquifer.
- Korajkic et al. 2010. Investigation of human sewage pollution and pathogen analysis at Florida Gulf coast beaches.
- Lapointe et al. 2018. Caloosahatchee River — North Fort Myers nutrient and bacteria source identification study.pdf
- Lapointe et al. 2016. Charlotte County Water Quality Assessment: Phase I Data Analysis and Recommendations for long-term Monitoring.pdf
- Lapointe et al. 1990. Nutrient couplings between on-site sewage disposal systems, groundwaters, and nearshore surface waters of the Florida Keys.
- Lapointe et al. 2017. Septic systems contribute to nutrient pollution and harmful algal blooms in the St. Lucie Estuary, Southeast Florida, USA.
- Lipp et al. 2002. Preliminary evidence for human fecal contamination in corals of the Florida Keys, USA.
- Rose et al. 1991. Assessing potential health risks from viruses and parasites in reclaimed water in Arizona and Florida, USA.
- Wetz et al. 2004. Presence, infectivity, and stability of enteric viruses in seawater: relationship to marine water quality in the Florida Keys.
