Harmful bacteria survive on wet wipes washed up on beaches, study finds

New research has found that harmfulbacteria on sewage-associated plastic waste can survive for long enough to pose a risk to human health.

The team at the University of Stirling found fecal coliform in the waste on the beach in Scotland.

The team found that the organisms such as E. coli and IE were binding to the plastic more often than the natural materials such as seaweed and sand.

We all know that sewage waste on our beaches is ugly, but it could be a risk to public health.

Sewage waste has been directly discharged into rivers and the sea after heavy rain when some sewage treatment plants exceed their capacity for effective treatment.

There are bags of plastic waste.

Some of the plastic waste we have recovered could be from legacy sewage spills that have persisted in the environment, but the volume of waste we are seeing is shocking.

The team came back with bags of wet wipes after collecting plastic waste from ten beaches along the Firth of Forth estuary in Scotland.

The lead author of the new paper is a researcher from the University of Stirling. She said that finding fecalbacteria could indicate the possibility of other human pathogens.

The extent to which people could be exposed to these pathogens is beyond the scope of our study, but there is always a risk of children picking up and playing with wet wipes on the beach.

There is antimicrobial resistance.

Some strains of vibrio can cause a severe upset stomach, and the team found evidence that they were able to colonize wet wipes. They found high rates of resistance to antibiotics in the wipes and cotton bud sticks.

The research is part of a project that is looking at how plastic in the environment can help transportbacteria and viruses, and the impact that may have on human health.

The paper "Sewage-associated plastic waste washed up on beaches can act as a reservoirs for fecalbacteria, potential human pathogens, and genes for antimicrobial resistance" was published in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin.

More information: Rebecca Metcalf et al, Sewage-associated plastic waste washed up on beaches can act as a reservoir for faecal bacteria, potential human pathogens, and genes for antimicrobial resistance, Marine Pollution Bulletin (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113766 Journal information: Marine Pollution Bulletin Citation: Harmful bacteria survive on wet wipes washed up on beaches, study finds (2022, May 30) retrieved 30 May 2022 from https://phys.org/news/2022-05-bacteria-survive-beaches.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.