Journal of Water and Health Vol 8 No 4 pp 797–802 © IWA Publishing 2010 doi:10.2166/wh.2010.130

Relationships between the occurrence of Giardia and Cryptosporidium and physicochemical properties of marine waters of the Pacific Coast of Mexico

Dalia Magana-Ordorica, Kristina Mena, Jose B. Valdez-Torres, Marcela Soto-Beltran, Josefina Leon-Felix and Cristobal Chaidez

Untreated sewage has adversely affected the quality of marine recreational waters worldwide. Exposure to marine recreational water with poor microbial quality may pose a threat to bathers. The objectives of this study were to assess the effect of physicochemical parameters on Cryptosporidium and Giardia presence in marine recreational water of Sinaloa, Mexico, by Logistic Regression Analyses. Thirty-two 10-litre water samples were collected from two tourist beaches, Altata and Mazatlan, between November 2006 and May 2007. Water samples were processed by the EPA 1623 method and pH, temperature, salinity and turbidity were also determined. Cryptosporidium and Giardia were present in 71 and 57% of the samples collected from Altata, respectively. In Mazatlan, Cryptosporidium and Giardia were found in 83 and 72% of the samples, respectively. The overall concentration of Cryptosporidium ranged from 150 to 2,050 oocysts/10 L with an average of 581 oocysts/10 L and Giardia ranged from 10 to 300 cysts/10 L with an average of 73 cysts/10 L. The occurrence of both parasites increased in water with decreasing temperatures and increasing turbidity of the water.

Keywords: Cryptosporidium; Giardia; marine recreational waters; temperature; turbidity

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