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.
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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.
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