In 1998 seven people in Walkerton Ontario lost their lives, and 2,000 more were made ill after drinking contaminated water. Water pollution is not something to be taken lightly, many people have been hurt, and many more may be if people continue to ignore the data that is made available to them. Even though people are aware of the risks associated with swimming in contaminated water, they continue to ignore the data that is shown to them, residents need to pay attention to beach safety data because chemicals and bacteria in the water can lead to illnesses and even death and sufficient data is available.
Various bacteria in the water can lead to severe illness and possibly death in those who drink or even swim in that water. One of the most well-known bacteria in the lakes is E.coli, E.coli is found in the intestines of in humans and animals (“Too Much” 12). This bacterium gets in the water through broken sewer pipes and farm runoff (“Too Much” 12). This is dangerous because the more contaminated material that gets into the water, the more the bacteria has a chance to get in the water.
Some of these bacteria come in different strands. Different strands of E. coli are caused by mutations that occur when cells are attacked by something and those that are immune to the attack split and more cells immune to the certain attack. The phrase ‘survival of the fittest’ was used by Charles Darwin in his book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, to explain that those creatures better adapted to survive their environment would reproduce and the next generation would be even better adapted to survive in their environment. Survival of the fittest certainly applies to the mutations leading to the survival of the bacteria.
In Detection and Typing Strategies for Pathogenic E.coli, Rivas lists the different pathotypes of E. coli. E. coli has at least six different pathotypes of E. coli (Rivas et al. 1). The main pathotypes are: Shiga toxigenic /Enterohemorrhagic E. coli, also called STEC/EHEC; Enteropathogenic E. coli, also called EPEC; Enterotoxigenic E.coli, also called ETEC; Enteroinvasive E. coli, also called EIEC; Entroaggregative E. coli, also called EAEC; and Diffusely adherent E.coli, also called DAEC. The different pathotypes are broken down into 50 known serotypes (Rivas et al. 2). With all these different serotypes more effective tests are certainly necessary to search for all of them.
Shiga toxigenic/ Entereohemorragic E.coli interacts with its host by attaching itself to the intestines of its host and tearing the cells (Rivas et al. 2). When this pathotype enters a human it can cause “non-bloody to bloody diarrhea, hemorrhagic colitis (HC), sudden onset of severe abdominal pain, vomiting, no fever, hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), acute renal failure in children, thrombocytopenia, acute nephropathy, seizures, coma, death” (Rivas et al. 2).Thrombocytopenia is when the number of platelets in the blood is lower than normal.
Enteropathogenic E. coli also interacts with the body of its host by tearing the cells of the intestines (Rivas et al. 2). The Enteropathogenic E. coli pathotype can cause “Infant diarrhea, can cause severe dehydration and be fatal. Fever, vomiting and abdominal pain. In adults, severe watery diarrhea with mucus without blood, nausea, vomiting abdominal cramps, headache, fever and chills” (Rivas et al. 2).
Enterotoxigenic E. coli is yet another pathotype. Enterotoxigenic E. coli interacts with its host by releasing toxins which cause the cells of the host to create chloride (Rivas et al. 2). The Enterotoxigenic E. coli pathotype can cause “Traveller’s diarrhea: watery diarrhea, low-grade fever, abdominal cramps, malaise, nausea. Severe cases have cholera-like extreme diarrhea with watery stools which can lead to dehydration. Usually self-limiting in adults” (Rivas et al. 2) Traveler’s diarrhea is common when people visit developing countries.
Enteroinvasive E. coli is another pathotype. Enteroinvasive E. coli interacts with its host by attacking individual cells and spreading through others (Rivas et al. 2). The Enteroinvasive E.coli pathotype can cause “Similar to shigellosis with profuse diarrhea or dysentery, chills, fever, headache, muscular pain, abdominal cramps” (Rivas et al. 2). Shigellosis is a disease caused by the bacteria shigella.
Entroaggregative E coli is another pathotype. Entroaggregative E. coli interacts with its host by crating toxins after affixing itself in blobs to groups of cells (Rivas et al. 2). The Entroaggregative E. coli pathotype can cause “Persistent diarrhea in children. Occasionally bloody diarrhea or secretory diarrhea, vomiting” (Rivas et al. 2). This type of E. coli is not very well known (Rivas 26).
Diffusely adherent E. coli is the last known pathotype of E. coli. Diffusely adherent E. coli interacts with its host byusing both fringed and nonfringed appendages, like cilia (Rivas et al. 2). The Diffusely adherent E. coli pathotype can cause “Childhood diarrhea, septicemia, urinary tract infections” (Rivas et al.2). Septicemia is when there are high levels of bacteria in the blood.
New typing methods are also being developed. Rivas also lists these in Detection and Typing Strategies for Pathogenic E.coli. The typing methods are not all exactly the same. The typing methods differ in “their discriminatory power, reproducibility, ease of performance, ease of interpretation, and cost” (Rivas 67). Some of the typing methods are based on phenotypes and some use genetics (Rivas 68). With this many methods the possibility of typing the multitude of serotypes is very likely.
The phenotype methods are the biochemical profiling method; serotyping method; bacteriophage typing; mutilocus enzyme electrophoresis, also called MLEE; and the antibiotic susceptibility profiling method (Rivas et al. 68). The genetic methods are whole genome sequencing also called WGS and single nucleotide polymorphism also called SNP analysis, pulsed field gel electrophoresis also called PFGE, multiple-locus variable number tandem repeat also called MLVA, multilocus sequence typing also called MLST, repetitive element palindromic polymerase chain reaction also called Rep-PCR, Random amplified polymorphic DNA also called RAPD, Shiga toxin-encoding bacteriophage insertion also called SBI, Lineage specific polymorphism analysis also called LSPA-6, optical mapping, ribotyping, amplified fragment length polymorphism also called AFLP, and microarrays (Rivas et al. 68-70). Some of these typing methods only work in certain conditions, and there are many because of this. Rivas lists multiple methods, but does not go into detail about five of the typing methods he lists.
The biochemical profiling typing method “involves the reaction of a particular isolate to a range of biochemical tests which can include the fermentation of various carbon sources” (Rivas et al. 71). In other words a strain is put through multiple tests to see how it reacts to them.
The serotyping method involves “the fact that strains of the same species can differ in the antigenic determinants expressed on their cell surface, such as capsular polysaccharides, flagella, and fimbriae” (Rivas et al. 71).This means that the different strains are examined under a high powered microscope to see the differences between cells of one strain and cells of another strain.
The bacteriophage typing method involves “individual stocks of whole bacteriophages (bacteriophages are viruses that are specific for bacteria only) applied to bacterial lawns as spots” (Rivas et al. 72). This means that different viruses are applied to different bacteria to see whether or not the bacteria is affected by it.
The multilocus enzyme electrophoresis method involves “typing of bacterial isolates, and relies on the differential electrophoretic mobility of specific enzymes which are separated using horizontal starch-gels” Rivas et al. 73). This method has been replaced by the MLST method (Rivas et al. 74). What the MLEE method means is that the different bacterial cells move differently based on what strand of E. coli they are.
The multilocus sequence typing method is “a portable typing tool allowing comparison between many different laboratories” (Rivas et al. 74). Although this method has replaced the MLEE method it has some large differences. The multilocus sequence typing method “relies on the sequencing of the genes associated with the enzymes” (Rivas et al. 74). This method is more efficient than the MLEE method because the sequence of genes is a more concrete way of determining different types of E.coli instead of how they move.
The pulsed field gel electrophoresis method is “commonly used technique for generating DNA profiles (DNA “fingerprints”) from a range of microorganisms, including E. coli” (Rivas et al. 76). This is useful as it makes the types of E. coli and other microorganisms easy to differentiate.
The multiple-locus variable number tandem repeat analysis method is “increasingly popular method of molecularly subtyping bacterial foodborne pathogens” (Rivas et al. 79). This method works by finding “a small number of loci within a bacterial genome that exhibit a broad range of variable number tandem repeats (VNTR). VNTR loci are initially selected by interrogating whole genome sequences for short tandem nucleotide repeats using a specialized software package” Rivas et al. 79). This means that certain loci are specific to a certain strand of E.coli.
The random amplified polymorphic DNA method uses “arbitrary primers which are not directed to any particular sequence and anneal at random sites throughout the genome” (Rivas et al. 83). This is useful because some parts in a serotype that will be in multiple different serotypes.
Current testing methods are inadequate as they take a lot of time, leading to beaches being closed with old results (“Understanding Beach Health”, par. 4). This can be a problem because when the water has high levels of bacteria and the results from that time aren’t being used people would be exposed to dangerous bacteria and chemicals. E. coli can cause health problems and eventual death (“Too Much”12). This bacterium is the name for a group of bacteria found in the intestines of humans and animals (“Too Much” 12).Tests for E.coli take up to 18 hours (“Understanding Beach Health”, par.4), making them unreliable for immediate beach closures.
A Canadian news article, Too Much of a Good Thing explains the effects of chemicals in drinking water. Fourteen of the 17 communities in Canada with highly polluted water had higher hospital admission rates than those without the highly polluted water. In early 2000 high levels of THMs or trihalomethanes were found in the drinking water of multiple communities. THMs are created when chlorine is used to clean drinking water. THMs can cause cancer, and lead to miscarriages and birth defects in infants. Fifteen percent of bladder cancers are believed to be a result of exposure to THMs. That is not to say that using chlorine to clean drinking water is altogether bad, diseases like Cholera have been almost eradicated due to the chlorination of water. The higher concentration of THMs in smaller cities is because of their lack of high quality filtration systems and poor water treatment methods. After the “Walkerton Crisis” new testing and purifying methods were put in place by the Ontario government (Too Much”). If these measures were not put in place many more people could become sick from improperly filtered water.
Measures are being taken to protect the population from the bacteria and chemicals in the water. In 2000 the U.S. senate passed the BEACH act or the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Costal Health act (United States, par.3). The goal of the BEACH act is to improve:
measures to develop and implement a beachwater pollution source identification and tracking program for the coastal recreation waters that are not meeting applicable water quality standards for pathogens; (b) a publicly accessible and searchable global information system database with information updated within 24 hours of the availability of the information, organized by beach and with defined standards, sampling plan,, monitoring protocols, sampling results, and number and cause of beach closing and advisory days; and (c) measures to ensure that closures or advisories are made or issued within 24 hours after the State government determines that any costal recreation waters in the State are not meeting or are not expected to meet applicable water quality standards for pathogens. (par. 12)
In 2008 the U.S senate revised the BEACH act, now decreeing that test results should be available to the public within 24 hours, the original act did not have a time restriction for results to be posted in, endangering lives and closing off beaches with outdated results (United States, par. 6). Without these new protocols to protect people from the bacteria many people could die.
With the new protocols, faster working tests are being developed. The new tests will only take two hours (United States, par. 5). In 2004 Lee and Deigner designed a testing method known as IMS/ATP (Francy 178). The IMS/ ATP method, also called immunomagnetic separation/ adenosine phosphate, works by taking a water sample and mixing in some beads coated with antibodies for a certain virus or bacteria; the beads then pull the bacteria from the water (Francy 178).This method has shown correlations of .62 and .77 when used in river water ( Francy 178). Quantitative –PCR is another method which searches for the DNA of a particular bacteria (Francy 178). This method has shown capable predictive effects at some Great Lakes beaches (Francy 178). The improvement of these tests will ensure that people will be better protected from bacteria in the water.
Even with these new tests there may be some danger from the bacteria levels. Predictive models are also being used to predict when bacteria levels will be above safe limits (Francy 178). Rain based models are used to close beaches when the rainfall amount is above the average for the beach at that time in the year (Francy 178-179). Predictive models are being used at two locations on Lake Michigan, these two locations are known to be affected by runoff (Francy 179). Statistical models are another kind of predictive model, in statistical models the origins of the bacteria are not needed, this is because on many beaches the origins of the bacteria are unknown (Francy 179). These models are used to post advisories as part of Project SAFE, also known as Swim Advisory Forecast Estimate, (Francy 179). The Ohio Nowcast takes in variables “included the variables log turbidity, wave height, rainfall (radar and airport,) and day of the year as predictors” to predict the level of E.coli in the water at a certain time (Francy 179-180). These models will help prevent any dangers that may be in the water when the bacteria levels are too low to be detected.
Ingesting chemicals is dangerous because they can have adverse effects on the human body, chlorine is a basic substance and is therefore bad because human stomach acid is acidic, a combination of the two of those can lead to explosions, however chlorine is used to purify drinking water. Seven people in Walkerton Ontario died, and 2,000 more were made extremely ill by contaminated water (“Too much” 11). Drinking chlorinated water is as dangerous as walking through a field of land mines, there is no set ratio for when one will explode, but when one does many people are injured and some even die. The rules for how many parts of chemicals can be in a set amount of water need to be strengthened and regulated, if they are not regulated one treatment plant may allow more chemicals to be in the water than another.
People believe that things like the ‘Walkerton Crisis’ will never happen to them, but they do. The way people can avoid these tragedies is if they pay attention to the data that is presented to them. Tests for E. coli are used to protect the population, but only work if people listen. Tragedies teach people how to handle these events in the future, but that doesn’t mean people have to die because they ignore data that is provided to them that can save their lives.