Knowledge and regulation on fungal contamination of sand and water: Progress report and perspectives
Jean‐Pierre Gangneux, João Brandão, Ester Segal, the ECMM/ISHAM MYCOSANDS study group, Sevtap Arıkan-Akdağlı, Aleksandra Barać, Sébastien Bertout, Andra-Cristina Bostănaru, Sara Brito, Michelle Bull, Nilgün Çerikçioğlu, Belinda Chapman, Laurence Delhaès, Maria Efstratiou, Çağrı Ergin, Michael Frenkel, A. Guerra, Aurora Gitto, C.I. Gonçalves, Hélène Guegan, Nina Gunde‐Cimerman, Mümtaz Güran, László Irinyi, Sunny C. Jiang, E. Jonikaitė, Slaven Jozić, Marija Kataržytė, Lena Klingspor, Mihai Mareș, Wim G. Meijer, Willem J. G. Melchers, Joseph Meletiadis, Wieland Meyer, Valentin Năstasă, Monika Novak Babič, Dilara Öğünç, Betil Özhak, Anna Prigitano, Stéphane Ranque, Malcolm Richardson, Frédéric Roger, Raluca-Oana Rusu, Raquel Sabino, Ana Sampaio, Susana Silva, Helena M. Solo‐Gabriele, J. Drew Stephens, Marlou Tehupeiory-Kooreman, Anna Maria Tortorano, Aristea Velegraki, Cristina Veríssimo, Darija Vukić Lušić, Georgoa Wunderlich
Abstract
Fungal flora in coastal/inland beach sand and recreational water is a neglected field of study, despite its potential impact on human health. A joint International Society for Human and Animal Mycology/European Confederation for Medical Mycology (ISHAM/ECMM) working group was formed in 2019 with the task to set up a vast international initiative aimed at studying the fungal contamination of beaches and bathing waters. Here we review the importance of the topic, and list the main results and achievements from 12 scientific publications. Fungal contamination exists at different levels, and the genera most frequently found were Aspergillus spp., Candida spp., Fusarium spp., and Cryptococcus spp., both in sand and in water. A site-blind median was found to be 89 colony-forming units of fungi per gram of sand in coastal/inland freshwaters. This threshold has been used for the sand quality criterion of the blue flag in Portugal. Additionally, our data were considered pivotal and therefore used for the first inclusion of fungi as a biological taxon of interest in water quality and sand monitoring recommendations of the World Health Organization's new guidelines on recreational water quality (Vol.1-Chap7). The findings of the consortium also suggest how environmental conditions (climate, salinity, soil pH, nitrogen, etc.) influence microbial communities in different regions, and that yeast species like Candida glabrata, Clavispora lusitaniae, and Meyerozyma guilliermondii have been identified as potential fungal indicators of fecal contamination. Climate change and natural disasters may affect fungal populations in different environments, and because this is still a field of study under exploration, we also propose to depict the future challenges of research and unmet needs.