Harmful bacteria survives longer on plastic Scottish beach waste

Image source, Catherine Gemmell MCS

Researchers have found that cotton buds and wet wipes on Scottish beaches pose a risk to human health.

A team from Stirling University found faecalbacteria on plastic waste on 10 beaches in the Firth of Forth estuary.

The plastic was more likely to be binding to the E. coli than seaweed was.

The amount of waste discovered was shocking.

Prof Richard Quilliam, who led the team, said that they came back with bags of wet wipes.

The sites included bathing water beaches.

The professor said that there has been a lot of coverage recently of sewage waste being directly discharged into rivers and the sea.

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.

Image source, Stirling University

The team found evidence that some strains of vibrio were able to colonise wet wipes.

The wipes and cotton bud sticks were found to have high rates of resistance to antibiotics.

The research is funded by the Natural Environment Research Council.

It is looking into the impact that plastic has on the environment and on human health.