Sand Quality on Portuguese Blue Flagged Beaches: Fungal and Faecal Contamination Across Two Bathing Seasons

Résumé fourni par la source

There is growing concern about the quality of sand on beaches, as users tend to spend most of their time on the sand rather than in the water. Numerous pathogenic agents have reportedly been isolated from sand, including bacteria, nematodes and opportunistic fungi. The ability of sand to retain pollutants and facilitate the transmission of pathogens raises public health concerns. The results of sand monitoring carried out during the 2024 and 2025 bathing seasons on beaches awarded the Blue Flag were tested, to identify trends and patterns of total fungal counts, enterococci, and E. coli. Our findings suggest that the total fungal count on coastal beaches is strongly influenced by periods of rainfall, which increases the fungal load in the sand. Inland beaches do not follow the same patterns, and the recorded values can vary considerably between beaches, influenced by vegetation and beach morphology, making it challenging to define consistent reference values for this parameter. Bacterial indicators seem to be primarily influenced by occasional anthropogenic disturbances and contamination events. Our study contributes considerably to the understanding of the microbiological quality of beach sand, encouraging the integration of sand monitoring into environmental surveillance and management programmes.

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