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Use of fallout radionuclides (7Be, 210Pb) to estimate resuspension of Escherichia coli from streambed sediments during floods in a tropical montane catchment

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Abstract

Consumption of water polluted by faecal contaminants is responsible for 2 million deaths annually, most of which occur in developing countries without adequate sanitation. In tropical aquatic systems, streambeds can be reservoirs of persistent pathogenic bacteria and high rainfall can lead to contaminated soils entering streams and to the resuspension of sediment-bound microbes in the streambed. Here, we present a novel method using fallout radionuclides (7Be and 210Pbxs) to estimate the proportions of Escherichia coli, an indicator of faecal contamination, associated with recently eroded soil particles and with the resuspension of streambed sediments. We show that using these radionuclides and hydrograph separations we are able to characterize the proportion of particles originating from highly contaminated soils and that from the resuspension of particle-attached bacteria within the streambed. We also found that although overland flow represented just over one tenth of the total flood volume, it was responsible for more than two thirds of the downstream transfer of E. coli. We propose that data obtained using this method can be used to understand the dynamics of faecal indicator bacteria (FIB) in streams thereby providing information for adapted management plans that reduce the health risks to local populations.

Graphical abstract showing (1) the main water flow processes (i.e. overland flow, groundwater return flow, blue arrows) and sediment flow components (i.e. resuspension and soil erosion, black arrows) during floods in the Houay Pano catchment; (2) the general principle of the method using fallout radionuclide markers (i.e. 7Be and 210Pbxs) to estimate E. coli load from the two main sources (i.e. streambed resuspension vs soil surface washoff); and 3) the main results obtained during the 15 May 2012 storm event (i.e. relative percentage contribution of each process to the total streamflow, values in parentheses)

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Lao Department of Agriculture Land Management (DALAM) and the MSEC project (Multi-Scale Environment Changes) for their support. They are also grateful to Keo Oudone Latsachack, Bounsamai Soulileuth, Marie Arnoux and Elian Gourdin for their help during field and laboratory work. This work was financed by the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique EC2CO/BIOHEFECT program (Belcrue and Belkong projects) as well as by the French National Research Agency (TecItEasy project; ANR-13-AGRO-0007).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Géosciences Environnement Toulouse (GET), UMR 5563 (CNRS-UPS-IRD), 14 avenue Edouard Belin, 31400, Toulouse, France

    Olivier Ribolzi

  2. Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement (LSCE), UMR 8212 (CEA-CNRS-UVSQ/IPSL), Domaine du CNRS, avenue de la Terrasse, 91198, Gif-sur-Yvette cedex, France

    Olivier Evrard

  3. Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC), UMR 7618 iEES (UPMC-CNRS-IRD-INRA-UDD-UPEC), case 120, 4 place Jussieu, 75252, Paris cedex, France

    Sylvain Huon

  4. Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), iEES-Paris, UMR 242, 32, avenue Henri Varagnat, 93143, Bondy cedex, France

    Emma Rochelle-Newall & Thierry Henri-des-Tureaux

  5. IRD, National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI), P.O. Box 4199, Ban Nogviengkham, Xaythany District, Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic Republic

    Norbert Silvera & Chanthamousone Thammahacksac

  6. Department of Agricultural Land Management (DALaM), P.O. Box 4199, Ban Nogviengkham, Xaythany District, Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic Republic

    Oloth Sengtaheuanghoung

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  1. Olivier Ribolzi
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  2. Olivier Evrard
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  4. Emma Rochelle-Newall
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  7. Chanthamousone Thammahacksac
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  8. Oloth Sengtaheuanghoung
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Correspondence to Olivier Ribolzi.

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Ribolzi, O., Evrard, O., Huon, S. et al. Use of fallout radionuclides (7Be, 210Pb) to estimate resuspension of Escherichia coli from streambed sediments during floods in a tropical montane catchment. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 3427–3435 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5595-z

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