{"title":"First application of enterophages for monitoring faecal pollution in the temperate Baltic region of Northern Poland","authors":"Agata Jurczak-Kurek , Joanna Całkiewicz , Ewa Kotlarska","doi":"10.1016/j.ijheh.2025.114622","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates the abundance of enterophages, a novel faecal indicator, in raw and treated sewage at two Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) in Pomerania, Poland, serving a population of 1.2 million inhabitants. Using the ISO-standardized double agar layer (DAL) method, we compared enterophages with other biological indicators, including coliphages, <em>Escherichia coli</em>, and enterococci. We observed that, although enterophages were present, they formed smaller plaques than coliphages, which complicated detection. Despite this, the study identified a strong presence of <em>E. coli</em> in both raw and treated wastewater, with lower concentrations of enterophages, consistent with other global studies. Enterophages were found to be less abundant than bacterial indicators and coliphages, suggesting a potentially more specific human source. The concentration of enterophages in treated sewage decreased significantly, supporting their potential as indicators of untreated sewage contamination in water bodies. Our results also revealed that enterophages counts in raw sewage were higher than those reported in tropical regions, possibly due to differences in methodology and bacterial strains used. Furthermore, correlation analyses indicated that microbial indicators in raw sewage were linked with chemical parameters such as temperature and orthophosphates, which may influence their presence. The study concludes that while enterophages are viable alternative faecal indicators, their low abundance in treated wastewater highlights the need for further research, including survivability studies and the development of molecular detection methods. This research contributes to the understanding of enterophages in temperate climates and underscores the importance of regional collaboration in optimizing faecal contamination monitoring methodologies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13994,"journal":{"name":"International journal of hygiene and environmental health","volume":"268 ","pages":"Article 114622"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5000,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International journal of hygiene and environmental health","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S143846392500104X","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"INFECTIOUS DISEASES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This study investigates the abundance of enterophages, a novel faecal indicator, in raw and treated sewage at two Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) in Pomerania, Poland, serving a population of 1.2 million inhabitants. Using the ISO-standardized double agar layer (DAL) method, we compared enterophages with other biological indicators, including coliphages, Escherichia coli, and enterococci. We observed that, although enterophages were present, they formed smaller plaques than coliphages, which complicated detection. Despite this, the study identified a strong presence of E. coli in both raw and treated wastewater, with lower concentrations of enterophages, consistent with other global studies. Enterophages were found to be less abundant than bacterial indicators and coliphages, suggesting a potentially more specific human source. The concentration of enterophages in treated sewage decreased significantly, supporting their potential as indicators of untreated sewage contamination in water bodies. Our results also revealed that enterophages counts in raw sewage were higher than those reported in tropical regions, possibly due to differences in methodology and bacterial strains used. Furthermore, correlation analyses indicated that microbial indicators in raw sewage were linked with chemical parameters such as temperature and orthophosphates, which may influence their presence. The study concludes that while enterophages are viable alternative faecal indicators, their low abundance in treated wastewater highlights the need for further research, including survivability studies and the development of molecular detection methods. This research contributes to the understanding of enterophages in temperate climates and underscores the importance of regional collaboration in optimizing faecal contamination monitoring methodologies.
期刊介绍:
The International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health serves as a multidisciplinary forum for original reports on exposure assessment and the reactions to and consequences of human exposure to the biological, chemical, and physical environment. Research reports, short communications, reviews, scientific comments, technical notes, and editorials will be peer-reviewed before acceptance for publication. Priority will be given to articles on epidemiological aspects of environmental toxicology, health risk assessments, susceptible (sub) populations, sanitation and clean water, human biomonitoring, environmental medicine, and public health aspects of exposure-related outcomes.