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Pendergraft MA, Belda-Ferre P, Petras D, Morris CK, Mitts BA, Aron AT, Bryant M, Schwartz T, Ackermann G, Humphrey G, Kaandorp E, Dorrestein PC, Knight R, Prather KA. Bacterial and Chemical Evidence of Coastal Water Pollution from the Tijuana River in Sea Spray Aerosol. Environ Sci Technol 2023; 57:4071-4081. [PMID: 36862087 PMCID: PMC10018732 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c02312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2022] [Revised: 12/21/2022] [Accepted: 12/23/2022] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Roughly half of the human population lives near the coast, and coastal water pollution (CWP) is widespread. Coastal waters along Tijuana, Mexico, and Imperial Beach (IB), USA, are frequently polluted by millions of gallons of untreated sewage and stormwater runoff. Entering coastal waters causes over 100 million global annual illnesses, but CWP has the potential to reach many more people on land via transfer in sea spray aerosol (SSA). Using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, we found sewage-associated bacteria in the polluted Tijuana River flowing into coastal waters and returning to land in marine aerosol. Tentative chemical identification from non-targeted tandem mass spectrometry identified anthropogenic compounds as chemical indicators of aerosolized CWP, but they were ubiquitous and present at highest concentrations in continental aerosol. Bacteria were better tracers of airborne CWP, and 40 tracer bacteria comprised up to 76% of the bacteria community in IB air. These findings confirm that CWP transfers in SSA and exposes many people along the coast. Climate change may exacerbate CWP with more extreme storms, and our findings call for minimizing CWP and investigating the health effects of airborne exposure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew A. Pendergraft
- Scripps
Institution of Oceanography, University
of California San Diego, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92037, United States
| | - Pedro Belda-Ferre
- Department
of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
| | - Daniel Petras
- Scripps
Institution of Oceanography, University
of California San Diego, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92037, United States
- Collaborative
Mass Spectrometry Innovation Center, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and
Pharmaceutical Science, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
- CMFI
Cluster of Excellence, Interfaculty Institute of Microbiology and
Medicine, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen 72076, Germany
| | - Clare K. Morris
- Scripps
Institution of Oceanography, University
of California San Diego, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92037, United States
- Department
of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University
of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
| | - Brock A. Mitts
- Department
of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University
of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
| | - Allegra T. Aron
- Collaborative
Mass Spectrometry Innovation Center, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and
Pharmaceutical Science, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
- Department
of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University
of Denver, Denver, Colorado 80210, United
States
| | - MacKenzie Bryant
- Department
of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
| | - Tara Schwartz
- Department
of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
| | - Gail Ackermann
- Department
of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
| | - Greg Humphrey
- Department
of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
| | - Ethan Kaandorp
- Independent
Researcher, Darwin, California 93522, United States
| | - Pieter C. Dorrestein
- Department
of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
- Collaborative
Mass Spectrometry Innovation Center, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and
Pharmaceutical Science, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
- Center
for Microbiome Innovation, University of
California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
| | - Rob Knight
- Department
of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
- Center
for Microbiome Innovation, University of
California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
- Department
of Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
- Department
of Computer Sciences and Engineering, University
of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
| | - Kimberly A. Prather
- Scripps
Institution of Oceanography, University
of California San Diego, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92037, United States
- Department
of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University
of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
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Pendergraft MA, Grimes DJ, Giddings SN, Feddersen F, Beall CM, Lee C, Santander MV, Prather KA. Airborne transmission pathway for coastal water pollution. PeerJ 2021; 9:e11358. [PMID: 34164231 PMCID: PMC8191489 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.11358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2020] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Each year, over one hundred million people become ill and tens of thousands die from exposure to viruses and bacteria from sewage transported to the ocean by rivers, estuaries, stormwater, and other coastal discharges. Water activities and seafood consumption have been emphasized as the major exposure pathways to coastal water pollution. In contrast, relatively little is known about the potential for airborne exposure to pollutants and pathogens from contaminated seawater. The Cross Surfzone/Inner-shelf Dye Exchange (CSIDE) study was a large-scale experiment designed to investigate the transport pathways of water pollution along the coast by releasing dye into the surfzone in Imperial Beach, CA. Additionally, we leveraged this ocean-focused study to investigate potential airborne transmission of coastal water pollution by collecting complementary air samples along the coast and inland. Aerial measurements tracked sea surface dye concentrations along 5+ km of coast at 2 m × 2 m resolution. Dye was detected in the air over land for the first 2 days during two of the three dye releases, as far as 668 m inland and 720 m downwind of the ocean. These coordinated water/air measurements, comparing dye concentrations in the air and upwind source waters, provide insights into the factors that lead to the water-to-air transfer of pollutants. These findings show that coastal water pollution can reach people through an airborne pathway and this needs to be taken into account when assessing the full impact of coastal ocean pollution on public health. This study sets the stage for further studies to determine the details and importance of airborne exposure to sewage-based pathogens and toxins in order to fully assess the impact of coastal pollution on public health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew A Pendergraft
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
| | - Derek J Grimes
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
| | - Sarah N Giddings
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
| | - Falk Feddersen
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
| | - Charlotte M Beall
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
| | - Christopher Lee
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America.,Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States
| | - Mitchell V Santander
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States
| | - Kimberly A Prather
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America.,Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States
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