We’re often unaware of just how badly the environment we live in has been treated until we take a closer look at it. While it can be frustrating and overwhelming to think about the current state and future of the environment, there is something that can be done about it. Small steps like recycling make a large impact, and microbial source tracking is something few know about but has the power to improve the environment.
Beaches and groundwater supplies are often contaminated by septic leaks, agricultural overflows, and chemical leaks on a microbial level. Microplastics have been discovered in the bloodstream of every human tested, and even our rainwater. Illnesses caused by water pollution cause an estimated $2.2- $3.7 billion in medical bills annually.
With facts like these floating around, even a brief conversation about environmental pollution can quickly turn bleak.
The good news is that modern science doesn’t idly sit on their hands and watch this happen. From advancements in renewable energy sources to creating energy-efficient appliances and biodegradable plastics, scientists have been hard at developing new methods to help protect the environment. One method, that tends to garner less media attention than those listed previously, is microbial source tracking.
What is Microbial Source Tracking?
Microbial source tracking refers to the process of identifying water contamination caused by fecal matter inside of a water supply. More specifically, it detects microscopic organisms, including bacteria and other infectious materials, found inside of feces. Examples of infectious diseases that can be found inside human or animal microbes include salmonella, hepatitis A, and Escherichia coli.
Unfortunately, our beaches and crop-growing lands are often not as clean as we would think – or hope! – they are.
Methods of Microbial Source Tracking
- Fecal coliform/fecal
- Streptococous ratio
- Bifidobacterium sp.
- B. fragilis HSP40 bacteriophage
- F+ RNA bacteriophage
- Human enteric virus
- MAR
- PFGE
- BOX-PCR
- Ribotyping
- Bacteroides-Prevotella molecular marker
- Caffeine
- Fecal sterols and/or stanols
A table with a more detailed description of each method, as well as its uses, advantages, and disadvantages over other methods, can be found here.
How Microbial Source Tracking is Beneficial to Environmental Conservation
In some instances, such as controlled environmental remediation, introducing microbes to soil can be beneficial. Unregulated waste products increase the risk of disease in a water supply, which could in turn affect nearby plants, animals, and humans.
Being able to understand the source of pollution through microbial source tracking is essential to maintaining the safety and quality of our water supplies.
Microbial source tracking helps to not only identify sources of hazardous fecal matter being introduced to the environment but also predict and prevent new sources from entering an ecosystem. Once a source of contamination has been identified, ecologists can enforce restorative and preventative actions to rebuild and maintain the integrity of that particular water supply.
In Summary
Microbial source tracking is a scientifically accepted and relevant method of identifying waste products introduced into the environment and provides the information needed for restorative action to take place. The reliability of microbial source tracking tests and their value to environmental conservation efforts are also only expected to increase as the technology powering them does.