• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
• /
• v.11 no.4
• /
• pp.368-371
• /
• 2006

The standard procedure outlined by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) in Method 1623 for analyzing Giardia lamblia cysts and Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts in water samples consists of filtration, elution, centrifugal concentration, immunomagnetic separation (IMS), and immunofluorescence assay (IFA) followed by microscopic examination. In this study, the extent of (oo)cyst loss in each step of this procedure was evaluated by comparing recovery yields in segmented analyses: (i) IMS + IFA, (ii) concentration + IMS + IFA, and (iii) filtration/elution + concentration + IMS + IFA. The complete (oo)cyst recovery by the full procedure was $52{\sim}57%$. The (oo) cyst loss in the IMS step was only $0{\sim}6%$, implying that IMS is a fairly reliable method for (oo)cyst purification. Centrifugal concentration of the eluted sample and pellet collection before IMS resulted in a loss of $8{\sim}14%$ of the (oo)cysts. The largest (oo)cyst loss occurred in the elution step, with $68{\sim}71%$ of the total loss. The permeated loss of (oo)cysts was negligible during filtration of the water sample with a $1.0-{\mu}m$ pore polyethersulfone (PES) capsule. These results demonstrated that the largest fraction of (oo)cyst loss in this procedure occurred due to poor elution from the filter matrix. Improvements in the elution methodology are therefore required to enhance the overall recovery yield and the reliability of the detection of these parasitic protozoa.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.28 no.8
• /
• pp.843-851
• /
• 2006

Although the detected amounts of those disease-causing(oo)cysts were high at each point in 2001, the detected amounts of Cryptosporidium and Giardia had decreased at low levels below 10(oo)cysts until 2004. Considered the detection results of each season, the most highly detected amounts of(oo)cysts were mostly recorded in summer and late summer(from June to September), while the site which the biggest amount was detected, was the point at Goryeung. The relation of Cryptosporidium with the water quality items was low, but the relations of Cryptosporidium and Giardia with turbidity were high($R^2$=0.4914, $R^2$=0.6176 respectively). And the detected amounts of Cryptosporidium and Giardia were relatively high, 20(oo)cysts/20L when the turbidity was more than 20 NTU. It was also found that the relation between the distribution of Cryptosporidium and Giardia was high, $R^2$=0.8432 and the density of Giardia was generally higher than that of Cryptosporidium. And Cryptosporidium and Giardia were simultaneously detected at each point. The primary sources that affected the density of those(oo)cysts were the livestock waste water and sewage.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.39 no.1
• /
• pp.27-35
• /
• 2003

No currently available methods to monitor pathogenic protozoa, Cryptosporidium and Giardia in environmental water come close to acceptable sensitivity, specificity and reproducibility, and so it has to be accompanied by thorough quality control and performance evaluation to credibly predict the distribution of them. We collected surface water samples from the Han River and spiked our prepared (oo)cysts, determined Matrix Spike recoveries using USEPA Method 1623 and considered what factors influence MS recovery and validity. As a result, average 46% of spiked oocysts and 60% of spike cysts were recovered, but repetitive sampling and statistical approach seemed to be necessary to determine the environmental pollution level of two protozoa as their variation coefficients was so much as 35oio and 26%. And MS recoveries with two acid dissociations during immunomagnetic separation were improved more 10% than that with one dissociations and the use of spiked suspension enumerated by flow cytometry instead of manual preparation enhanced the validity and reliability in spiking tests. Because fluorescence characteristics of (oo)cysts stained on well slides with FITC-labeled monoclonal antibodies and DAPI was not always same, well Elides from spiked field samples were helpful to evaluate the performance of staining. We found many (oo)cyst-like objects with typical fluorescence, not (co)cysts, from the Han River water samples, and then it was concluded that nuclei staining by DAPI (4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) and examination by Differential Interference Contrast Microscope should be critical for valid identification.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.271-276
• /
• 2006

The outbreak cases of Cryptosporidium or Giardia from drinking water in abroad have drawn attentions on the public health. It is well known that Cryptosporidium is the most resistant organism against chlorine disinfection. To guesstimate the levels of Cryptosporidium and Giardia in Korean surface water, 1~2 samples from 22 drinking water sources in four Korean major rivers of Han, Keum, Nakdong, and Youngsan were monitored. In addition, two sites in Kyunganchon, a contaminated river were monitored for comparison. In source waters, detection rates of Cryptosporidium and Giardia were 15% (6/39) and 21% (5/24) with the range of 1~3 oocysts/10 L and 1~6 cysts/10 L, respectively. In Kyunganchon, they were 60% (6/10) and 70% (7/10) in the range of 1~9 oocysts/10 L and 10~72 cysts/10 L, respectively. When one of the source waters in Han river was monitored monthly, Cryptosporidium were found mostly in cold season. Matrix of the samples gave influence on the recoveries of the spiked protozoa. The recoveries of both Cryptosporidium and Giardia increased in the samples of Kyunganchon, known as contaminated area. However, protozoan recovery did not show significant relation with turbidity, the index of matrix contamination, which implies that there are additional unveiled features of matrix affecting the recoveries of the protozoa. The protozoan distribution in Kyunganchon showed significant relations with Cl. perfringens, anaerobic and spore forming indicator bacteria of fecal contamination by regression analysis, but not with turbidity, the general indicator of water quality.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
• /
• v.48 no.5
• /
• pp.83-93
• /
• 2006

In unsaturated porous media, the air-water interface (AWI) plays an important role in removing of biocolloids such as bacteria, viruses, and protozoan (oo)cysts. In this study, four models related to calculation of specific AWI area are analyzed to determine the appropriate model, and the selected models are verified using the previously reported experimental data. The results indicate that the modified model from Niemet et al. (2002) is the most appropriate tool for calculating the specific AWI area using the van Genuchten (1980) parameters obtained from the water retention curve. Hence, it is expected that this model could be used to quantitatively determine the attachment of biocolloids to AWI in the transport modeling of biocolloids in unsaturated porous media.