Water Pollution: Compound slows growth of nitrate-reducing bacteria

More reasons to use high quality probiOtics and the best water filter

Antibiotic Pollution May Increase Groundwater Nitrate

Charlie Schmidt

SIDE EFFECTS Antibiotics, such as sulfamethoxazole, could kill beneficial bacteria that clean up groundwater.

Decades after spawning a health care revolution, antibiotics are now common pollutants. Scientists' biggest concern about these emerging contaminants is that they promote the spread of resistance. But new research suggests they also harm the microbes that cleanse groundwater of dangerous compounds, particularly nitrates (Environ. Sci. Technol., DOI: 10.1021/es103605e).

High nitrate levels in drinking water can cause methemoglobinemia, a disease that decreases the blood's oxygen carrying capacity. Naturally-occurring bacteria in groundwater, such as Pseudomonas putida, can remove nitrates by reducing them to nitrogen gas.In Cape Cod, Mass., very high nitrate levels co-occur in groundwater with one of the most common antibiotics in the clinical arsenal: sulfamethoxazole (SMX). For nearly a decade, microbiologist Ronald Harvey and colleagues from the U.S. Geological Survey have tracked SMX and other groundwater pollutants at an aquifer that originates at the Otis Air National Guard Base, a heavily polluted site on Cape Cod. Other researchers had shown that high doses of SMX can interfere with bacterial nitrate reduction. But no one knew if a similar response might occur at environmentally-relevant concentrations.

To answer that question, Harvey's team first cultured bacteria from a non-contaminated portion of the aquifer. Next, they added nitrate to the cultures at levels measured in the environment, along with SMX at doses ranging from 0.005 to 2,000 µM. Bacterial growth rates dropped at all doses. At the environmentally relevant concentration of 0.005 µM SMX, the amount of total nitrate that the bacteria removed from the culture fell by nearly half. "We're demonstrating a clear biological effect," Harvey says. "And we're showing that in the same bacteria that live in this particular aquifer."

Harvey says that the next step would be to study the bacteria's response to SMX exposure in the aquifer itself.

USGS research hydrologist Dana Kolpin, who didn't participate in this study, thinks the results suggest that SMX contamination might account at least in part for high nitrate levels in the aquifer. "We can't jump to that conclusion yet," he says. "But the data suggest that's a hypothesis worth pursuing."

Chemical & Engineering News
ISSN 0009-2347
Copyright © 2011 American Chemical Society
http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/89/i12/8912scene4.html

Going Gluten Free? Watch Out for Bugs!

Victoria Yeh writes in her article about "Life After Wheat" that "Gluten-free has almost become the new “fad” diet of today, with various celebrities and fitness gurus touting its benefits. But for those of us who have a true dietary sensitivity, a gluten-free diet is more than a fad – it’s a necessity. According to the Canadian Celiac Association, approximately 1% of the population suffers from celiac disease, characterized by inflammation and damage to the intestinal wall. This can lead to a range of issues from poor nutrient absorption to unexplained neurological symptoms and even infertility. While the incidence of celiac disease is relatively low, it is estimated that yet another 10-15% of the population has some form of non-celiac gluten sensitivity. Since the symptoms of food sensitivities can be so varied and easily ignored, many people go years without a proper diagnosis and simply normalize or adapt to a life of sub-optimal health."

Having had to discover that I too have the issue of gluten and gliaden sensitivity a couple of years ago I seem to wander around the internet looking for related information because so many others also live with this concern.

Just in the last week or so I learned something new.  It was timely to me because my organization just distributed a very large donation of probiotics to several groups in need of this product for those they serve.

I am fairly sure that few know that if you do move to a gluten free diet you risk losing some of the beneficial protective mechanisms found in the gut because of the higher risk of bacterial overgrowth.

So if you too are gluten free by choice or by need, then make sure you are taking your daily supplement of high quality probiotics** to keep the health flora growing.

You health will love you for it.

(**I do not consider the highly advertised and costly grocery store products to be high quality: Look for a well respected supplement brand.)