@article{7f0d6e6136414555be21f29d59a8a1f4,
title = "Global Distribution of Human-Associated Fecal Genetic Markers in Reference Samples from Six Continents",
abstract = "Numerous bacterial genetic markers are available for the molecular detection of human sources of fecal pollution in environmental waters. However, widespread application is hindered by a lack of knowledge regarding geographical stability, limiting implementation to a small number of well-characterized regions. This study investigates the geographic distribution of five human-associated genetic markers (HF183/BFDrev, HF183/BacR287, BacHum-UCD, BacH, and Lachno2) in municipal wastewaters (raw and treated) from 29 urban and rural wastewater treatment plants (750-4 400 000 population equivalents) from 13 countries spanning six continents. In addition, genetic markers were tested against 280 human and nonhuman fecal samples from domesticated, agricultural and wild animal sources. Findings revealed that all genetic markers are present in consistently high concentrations in raw (median log10 7.2-8.0 marker equivalents (ME) 100 mL-1) and biologically treated wastewater samples (median log10 4.6-6.0 ME 100 mL-1) regardless of location and population. The false positive rates of the various markers in nonhuman fecal samples ranged from 5% to 47%. Results suggest that several genetic markers have considerable potential for measuring human-associated contamination in polluted environmental waters. This will be helpful in water quality monitoring, pollution modeling and health risk assessment (as demonstrated by QMRAcatch) to guide target-oriented water safety management across the globe.",
keywords = "Animals, Environmental Monitoring, Feces, Genetic Markers, Humans, Waste Water, Water Microbiology, Water Pollution",
author = "Mayer, {Ren{\'e} E} and Reischer, {Georg H} and Ixenmaier, {Simone K} and Julia Derx and Blaschke, {Alfred Paul} and Ebdon, {James E} and Rita Linke and Lukas Egle and Warish Ahmed and Blanch, {Anicet R} and Denis Byamukama and Marion Savill and Douglas Mushi and Crist{\'o}bal, {H{\'e}ctor A} and Edge, {Thomas A} and Schade, {Margit A} and Asli Aslan and Brooks, {Yolanda M} and Regina Sommer and Yoshifumi Masago and Sato, {Maria I} and Taylor, {Huw D} and Rose, {Joan B} and Stefan Wuertz and Shanks, {Orin C} and Harald Piringer and Mach, {Robert L} and Domenico Savio and Matthias Zessner and Farnleitner, {Andreas H}",
note = "Funding Information: This paper was realized by the support of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) as part of the research projects P23900 granted to Andreas H. Farnleitner. Further support came also from the Science Call 2015 “Ressource und Lebensgrundlage Wasser” Project SC15-016 funded by the Nieder{\"o}sterreichische Forschungs-und Bildungsgesellschaft (NFB), the FWF research project P22309 (both granted to AHF), and the FWF research project P22032 (granted to Georg Reischer). This study is a joint publication of the Interuniversity Cooperation Center Water & Health (www.waterandhealth.at). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Environmental Protection Agency. We dedicate this manuscript to our fellow author, collaborator, and dear friend Professor Huw Taylor, who was sadly never able to see its publication. Huw was a Professor of Microbial Ecology at the University of Brighton (UK) and will be much missed by his fellow scientists from around the World. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018 American Chemical Society.",
year = "2018",
month = may,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1021/acs.est.7b04438",
language = "English",
volume = "52",
pages = "5076--5084",
journal = "Environmental Science & Technology",
issn = "0013-936X",
publisher = "American Chemical Society",
number = "9",
}