Bacteria and Metals
Bacteria
Bacterial contamination of the Bay can come from a variety of sources including untreated sewage discharges from faulty pipes, insufficient or faulty septic systems, from native and domesticated animal waste, and from urban runoff. Bacterial pollution plagues many local waterways.
Testing for bacteria or pathogens which cause illness is expensive and requires specialized equipment. In addition, obtaining results can often be a timely process
(up to 24 hours). Currently, Baykeeper and other local organizations and agencies perform microbiological tests that measure indicator bacteria organisms. Indicator organisms are bacteria that may not be pathogenic, but are known to be present when pathogens are present in the water. (Hach Company, DR/2000 Spectrophotometer Handbook, at s-165 (1993)) The source of pathogenic bacteria usually points to urban runoff from coastal storm drains. The presence of pathogens dramatically increases the chances of people swimming in the water to contract colds, gastroenteritis and other illnesses. There are four types of indicator bacteria that are commonly tested for when analyzing water samples: total coliform, fecal coliform, E. coli, and Enterococcus bacteria.
Total coliform encompasses all types of coliform bacteria and can come from sources such as plants, soil, animals, and humans.(DHS, Salt Water Beaches Guidance, Appendix D (July 27, 2000)).
Fecal coliform is a subset of Total coliforms and the test specifically shows the presence of fecal contamination. (Clesceri et al. Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater 20th Edition. American Public Health Association et al., at 9-54 (1998)). E. coli, a fecal indicator universally present in fecal matter, (Joyce, Jake PhD. Overview of Water Quality Indicator Microbes. Regional BEACH Program Conferences 1999 Proceedings. USEPA Region 7, at doc.# 823-r-00-003 (Feb. 2000)) is defined as “a subset of the fecal coliform group that is a part of the normal intestinal flora in humans and animals and is, therefore, a direct indicator of fecal contamination in the water.” (DHS, Recommended Methods for the Analysis of Recreational Marine Water to Comply with AB 411 (March 28, 2000).
Enterococcus bacteria, like E. coli, is found in the intestines of warm blooded animals and testing for it also determines the extent of fecal contamination in the water.
Metals
Living organisms require metals for normal physiological processes. However, excess quantities of many metals are toxic to human and aquatic life. Metals can generally be divided into three categories: light metals, transitional metals and metalloids. The latter two are known as heavy metals which, in sufficient quantities, are toxic to all life forms. Heavy metals are often associated with human caused sources such as fuel combustion, vehicle tire and brake wear, wood treatment, herbicides, and the decay of products such as batteries, paints, and plastics. These contaminants travel through storm drains via urban runoff and have the potential to accumulate in underwater sediments and in the tissues of plants and animals, serving to disrupt cellular metabolism (the enzyme reactions that support life) in higher food chain organisms.
Copper
Common pollution sources of copper include marine anti-fouling paint, automobile brake wear, circuit board manufacturing, pesticides, algaecides, industrial emissions and corrosion from plumbing fittings and roofs. Copper finds its way to water bodies through direct contact with boats coated with marine anti-fouling paint. Copper is also deposited in urban streets from the use of automobile break wear making its way to local water bodies through storm drains via urban runoff.
Copper sulfate is commonly used as an algaecide for pool maintenance and killing algae in lakes and large reservoirs. It is also one of the only effective chemical measures used to sterilize equipment and footwear to prevent the spread of the invasive New Zealand mud snail.
Studies have shown a 100% death rate for fish within 18 hours when exposed to 1 mg/L of copper. At 0.56mg/L of copper concentration, death occurred within 42 hours.
http://www.mass.gov/agr/pesticides/water/Aquatic/copper.doc
Zinc
Zinc, a heavy metal that is commonly used to protect steel against corrosion, is found in automotive equipment (in metal as well as rubber components, like tires), construction activities, pesticides, herbicides and in animal feed. It is an essential element in almost all biological systems specifically for metabolism, and the replication of genetic material.
http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/cadmium/140497.pdf
Zinc is present in natural waters in only trace amounts. While small amounts of zinc are essential for all forms of life, excessive levels can have toxic and sub-lethal effects on aquatic wildlife. Zinc - like lead - also destroys gill tissues and bioaccumulates in aquatic organisms. Sub-lethal effects of zinc include general fatigue, reduced growth rates and pathological changes to many organs. The early stages of many saltwater invertebrates are sensitive to zinc.
http://naturalresources.nsw.gov.au/estuaries/factsheets/wquality/heavy-metals.shtml
Nickel
Some of the human sources of nickel include steel mills, metal production facilities, boilers that burn oil, battery manufacturers, motor vehicle exhaust and incinerators that burn refuge from sewage sludge.
Nickel exposure has been shown to cause breathing difficulties, loss of equilibrium, convulsions and death in some fish and amphibian species.
(Eisler, Ronald, 1998. Nickel Hazards to Fish, Wildlife, and Invertebrates: A Synoptic Review. Biological Science Report USGS/BRD/BSR-1998-0001: 46-47.)
Mercury
Mercury has been recognized as a serious environmental contaminant and the EPA estimates that the United States’ largest remaining source of mercury is coal combustion. (http://ca.water.usgs.gov/mercury). Coal burning activities as far away as China can also be attributed as a source for mercury pollution in California.
(University Of California - Santa Cruz. "Mercury In California Rainwater Traced To Industrial Emissions In Asia." ScienceDaily 20 December 2002. 19 December 2007 .)
Other potential pollution sources include broken thermometers and fluorescent light bulbs and certain older paint mixtures. Mercury present in the environment is itself not deleterious but increasing bioaccumulation in organisms further up the food chain can act as a neurotoxin and its exposure elicits permanent damage.
http://www.ehs.berkeley.edu/pubs/factsheets/19mercury.html
Selenium
Selenium is exposed to the environment mainly through mining activities and is transported to the environment via runoff from irrigation and waste water from petroleum refining. Though it functions as an excellent antioxidant for humans, it manifests detrimental health impacts in fish reproduction in very small concentrations.
http://wwwrcamnl.wr.usgs.gov/Selenium/Intro.htm
Cadmium
Cadmium pollution is mainly the result of recyclable nickel-cadmium (NiCad) batteries making their way to landfills, and direct exposure to soils as a byproduct contained in fertilizers. Runoff passing over fertilized or contaminated soil can easily transport the cadmium to the local water body. It has no beneficial biological attributes and is highly toxic once introduced into the system.
http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/cadmium/140497.pdf
Traces of cadmium in the water have been shown to interrupt fishes’ escape response leaving them highly susceptible to predation. By destroying its sense of smell, it deletes its preliminary method of sensing attack.
(Phillips, Catherine. Cadmium hits Trout in the Snout. The Journal of Experimental Biology: 206, 1765-1766, 2003.)
Cadmium damages the lungs, can cause kidney disease, and may irritate the digestive tract.
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts5.html
Arsenic
Arsenic pollution sources include: runoff from agricultural sites when pesticides containing arsenic present in the topsoil run off fields (banned in the United States in the 1990’s), leaching to the environment when used as a wood preservative and waste runoff from glass manufacturing. It is of particular concern when present in groundwater sources used as drinking water.
(Welch, A.H., Westjohn, D.B., Helsel, D.R., and Wanty, R.B., 2000, Arsenic in ground water of the United States-- occurrence and geochemistry: Ground Water v.38 no.4, p.589-604.
Found online at: http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/trace/pubs/gw_v38n4/
Arsenic is an essential compound for many animal species, because it plays a role in protein synthesis. Arsenic toxicity is another important characteristic. It is toxic in low concentrations to freshwater algae. It has also been shown to be toxic to Daphnia Magna American oyster in low concentrations with a 48 hour exposure time.
Ingesting very high levels of arsenic can result in death. Exposure to lower levels can cause nausea and vomiting, decreased production of red and white blood cells, abnormal heart rhythm, damage to blood vessels, and a sensation of “pins and needles” in hands and feet.
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts2.html
http://www.lenntech.com/elements-and-water/arsenic-and-water.htm
Cyanide
The major sources of cyanides in water are discharges from some metal mining processes, organic chemical industries, iron and steel plants or manufacturers, and publicly owned wastewater treatment facilities. Other cyanide sources include vehicle exhaust, releases from certain chemical industries, burning of municipal waste, and use of cyanide-containing pesticides. Much smaller amounts of cyanide may enter water through storm water runoff where road salts are used that contains cyanide. Cyanide in landfills can contaminate underground water.
Cyanide is used in the aquarium trade to capture fish and is best described as an asphyxiate (Bellwood, 1981b and Jones & Steven, 1997). Fish and aquatic invertebrates are particularly sensitive to cyanide exposure. Extremely low concentrations of free cyanide in the aquatic environment reduce swimming performance and inhibit reproduction in many species of fish. Other adverse effects include delayed mortality, pathology, susceptibility to predation, disrupted respiration and altered growth patterns.
Exposure to small amounts of cyanide can be deadly regardless of the route of exposure. The severity of the harmful effects depends in part on the form of cyanide, such as hydrogen cyanide gas or cyanide salts. Exposure to high levels of cyanide for a short time harms the brain and heart and can even cause coma and death.
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/phs8.html
http://www.cyanidecode.org/cyanide_environmental.php
Lead
Lead occurs naturally in the environment. However, most of the high levels found throughout the environment come from human activities. Environmental levels of lead have increased more than 1,000-fold over the past three centuries as a result of human activity. The greatest increase occurred between the years 1950 and 2000, and reflected increasing worldwide use of leaded gasoline. Lead can enter the environment through releases from mining lead and other metals, and from factories that make or use lead, lead alloys, or lead compounds.
Sources of lead in surface water or sediment include deposits of lead-containing dust from the atmosphere, waste water from industries that handle lead (primarily iron and steel industries and lead producers), urban runoff, and mining piles.
Lead is a persistent chemical which is biologically accumulated in aquatic organisms (upon digestion, immobilization of lead leads to its buildup in organic tissues). Lead is acutely toxic to most aquatic organisms, killing them by destruction of gill tissue. At sub-lethal concentrations, lead has a number of chronic ill-effects which include mucus buildup on gill tissue (leading to suffocation and death), general fatigue and reduction in disease resistance and growth rates.
http://naturalresources.nsw.gov.au/estuaries/factsheets/wquality/heavy-metals.shtml
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/phs13.html
Aluminum
Aluminum occurs naturally in soil, water, and air. It is redistributed or moved by natural and human activities. High levels in the environment can be caused by the mining and processing of its ores and by the production of aluminum metal, alloys, and compounds. Small amounts of aluminum are released into the environment from coal powered plants and incinerators. Virtually all food, water, and air contain some aluminum.
Most aluminum-containing compounds do not dissolve to a large extent in water unless the water is acidic or very alkaline. However, when acid rain falls, aluminum compounds in the soil may dissolve and enter lakes and streams. Since the affected bodies of water are often acidic themselves from the acid rain, the dissolved aluminum does not combine with other elements in the water and settle out as it would under normal (i.e., non-acidic) conditions. In this situation, abnormally high concentrations of aluminum may occur.
Studies show that people exposed to high levels of aluminum may develop Alzheimer’s disease.
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/phs22.html
Antimony
Antimony is used in lead storage batteries, solder, sheet and pipe metal, bearings, castings, diodes, low friction metals, cable sheathing, polyethylene (PET) containers and pewter. Antimony oxide is added to textiles and plastics to prevent them from catching fire. It is also used in paints, ceramics, and fireworks, and as enamels for plastics, metal, and glass.
It is released to the environment from natural sources and from industry, and is found at low levels in some rivers, lakes, and streams. Through groundwater, it can travel long distances and pollute other locations and surface waters.
It has no know physiological function and exposure to antimony at high levels can result in a variety of adverse health effects. Breathing high levels for long periods can irritate eyes and lungs and can cause heart and lung problems, stomach pain, diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach ulcers. It is toxic to fish in very low concentrations.
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts23.html
http://ces.iisc.ernet.in/energy/HC270799/HDL/ENV/enven/vol311.htm
Silver
Silver is one of the basic elements that make up our planet. Silver is rare but occurs naturally in the environment as a soft, "silver" colored metal. People make jewelry, silverware, electronic equipment, photographic equipment and dental fillings with silver in its metallic form. Silver could be found at hazardous waste sites in the form of these compounds mixed with soil and/or water and may thus be released into the environment during rain events.
Silver that is released into the environment may be carried long distances in air and water. Rain washes silver compounds out of many soils so that it eventually moves into the groundwater. Silver can remain attached to oceanic sediments for 100 years under proper conditions such as high pH and salinity.
In solution, ionic silver is highly toxic to aquatic plants and animals. Small concentrations are lethal to insects and fish. At slightly higher concentrations, negative impacts on growth are shown in algae, clams, oysters, snails, insects and fish.
Ecotoxicity, reproductive effects and mutagenicity have been observed in laboratory studies. Tests in animals show that silver compounds are likely to be life-threatening for humans when large amounts are swallowed.
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/phs146.html
http://www.inchem.org/documents/cicads/cicads/cicad44.htm#6.0
http://smt.pennnet.com/Articles/Article_Display.cfm?Section=Archives&Subsection=Display&ARTICLE_ID=119994