Good Hand Hygiene Reduces the Spread of Beach Bacteria

A paper: Differential Decay of Wastewater Bacteria and Change of Microbial Communities in Beach Sand and Seawater Microcosms (pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.5b01879?journalCode=esthag ) says that the wastewater bacteria in sand take much longer to decay than in water.

The abstract (in part) says:
In summary, the differential decay of wastewater bacteria in beach sand and in seawater provides a kinetic explanation to the often-observed higher abundance of FIBs in beach sand, and the NGS-based microbial community analysis can provide valuable insights to understanding the fate of wastewater bacteria in the context of indigenous microbial communities in natural environments.
FIBs = Fecal indicator bacteria
NGS = next-generation sequencing

A water quality and health council post (waterandhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/20...n-At-the-Beach-2.pdf ) says:

Considering that both ocean and lake water and beach sand may harbor bacteria, the answer is neither to simply rinse our hands in the waves nor just rub sand off before eating. We suggest a trip to the public rest room at the beach for hand washing hygiene. If rest rooms are unavailable, the next best thing could be applying hand sanitizer after rinsing in the waves. To the extent possible, use a paper napkin or food wrap to act as a barrier between hands and food, and avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.

The post contains an interesting “Word Search” (courtesy: American Cleaning Institute), with a challenge of finding common handwashing terms. Enjoy the Word Search!

F H Mughal