Biomaterial Database

Managing coastal bathing water quality: the contribution of microbiology and epidemiology. 2001

M A Efstratiou

Department of Marine Sciences, University of the Aegean, 5 Sapphous Street, 81 100 Mytilene, Greece. efstratiou@marine.aegean.gr

The EU Bathing Water Directive with a life of 25 years (EEC, 1976) has contributed significantly to the improvement of the quality of coastal recreational waters throughout Europe and has successfully protected public health. Improvement of the standards of living and general public demands has made it necessary to consider updating it (EU, 1994) introducing important changes in microbiological parameters. Measurement of microbial pollution is of primary importance to this new proposal, as is to the regulatory schemes introduced by the very recent 'Annapolis Protocol' (WHO/US EPA, 1999). This report discusses the microbiological aspects of the health-related management of bathing seawater in the context of the scientific information available from epidemiological and microbiological studies.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D011634	Public Health	Branch of medicine concerned with the prevention and control of disease and disability, and the promotion of physical and mental health of the population on the international, national, state, or municipal level.	Community Health,Environment, Preventive Medicine & Public Health,Environment, Preventive Medicine and Public Health,Health, Community,Health, Public
D004782	Environmental Health	The science of controlling or modifying those conditions, influences, or forces surrounding man which relate to promoting, establishing, and maintaining health.	Environmental Health Science,Health, Environmental,Environmental Health Sciences,Environmental Healths,Health Science, Environmental,Health Sciences, Environmental,Healths, Environmental,Science, Environmental Health,Sciences, Environmental Health
D005060	Europe	The continent north of AFRICA, west of ASIA and east of the ATLANTIC OCEAN.	Northern Europe,Southern Europe,Western Europe
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D001419	Bacteria	One of the three domains of life (the others being Eukarya and ARCHAEA), also called Eubacteria. They are unicellular prokaryotic microorganisms which generally possess rigid cell walls, multiply by cell division, and exhibit three principal forms: round or coccal, rodlike or bacillary, and spiral or spirochetal. Bacteria can be classified by their response to OXYGEN: aerobic, anaerobic, or facultatively anaerobic; by the mode by which they obtain their energy: chemotrophy (via chemical reaction) or PHOTOTROPHY (via light reaction); for chemotrophs by their source of chemical energy: CHEMOLITHOTROPHY (from inorganic compounds) or chemoorganotrophy (from organic compounds); and by their source for CARBON; NITROGEN; etc.; HETEROTROPHY (from organic sources) or AUTOTROPHY (from CARBON DIOXIDE). They can also be classified by whether or not they stain (based on the structure of their CELL WALLS) with CRYSTAL VIOLET dye: gram-negative or gram-positive.	Eubacteria
D001424	Bacterial Infections	Infections by bacteria, general or unspecified.	Bacterial Disease,Bacterial Infection,Infection, Bacterial,Infections, Bacterial,Bacterial Diseases
D001493	Bathing Beaches	Beaches, both natural and man-made, used for bathing and other activities.	Beaches, Bathing
D012623	Seawater	The salinated water of OCEANS AND SEAS that provides habitat for marine organisms.	Sea Water,Sea Waters,Seawaters,Water, Sea,Waters, Sea
D013550	Swimming	An activity in which the body is propelled through water by specific movement of the arms and/or the legs. Swimming as propulsion through water by the movement of limbs, tail, or fins of animals is often studied as a form of PHYSICAL EXERTION or endurance.
D014867	Water	A clear, odorless, tasteless liquid that is essential for most animal and plant life and is an excellent solvent for many substances. The chemical formula is hydrogen oxide (H2O). (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed)	Hydrogen Oxide