A group of researchers at the University of Windsor are using new technology to examine water safety at local beaches.
Doug Haffner with the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, says they came up with the genome testing after recognizing that the current beach testing does not test for many potentially harmful pathogens.
Currently, the beach testing conducted by the health unit only tests for the presence of E. coli. The test is done once a week and takes about two days to get the results. The method being used by the GLIER researchers will detect a number of pathogens and can get results within hours.
"Why not come up with an approach that came up with a very broad screening for all possible human health threats and can return data very quickly. With the genetic techniques we can return data within hours," says Haffner.
They are currently half way through the four year study, which is being funded through a half-million grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
"The beaches are in good shape, but the lakes are changing. Climate change is real. The Great Lakes are the second fastest warming lakes in the world, so we expect to see some major changes coming in the Great Lakes," says Haffner.
The research group is also studying environmental factors that cause changes to the bacteria and contamination level over time.
"Our first screen would suggest that yes, we do see some of the potential concerns that are out there," says Haffner. "The question is, is it there at a level and types of forms that would actually represent a human health effect. That's they type of thing we have to verify."