Scientists need your rectums.
Before you go ahead and decide no one is going near your butt, you will need to know a few things. First, you may be doing the human race a great service if you volunteer your ass to science. And, secondly, if you’re worried about it hurting—don’t be. Researchers will be providing Assprin on site. We could fill these pages with buttloads of poop, fart, and ass jokes, but there’s actually something pretty serious happening, and you might be able to help.
Researchers at Surfers Against Sewage are asking surfers to provide rectal swabs and help scientists understand how exposure to sewage and pollution in the ocean affects human health. Previous studies suggest some marine pollution contains antibiotic-resistant bacteria, known as “superbugs,” which have increasingly evolved to become immune to even the most powerful antibiotics, making common infections much harder to treat.
Head researcher Anne Leonard from the European Centre for Environment and Human Health at Exeter University said, “We know that surfers regularly swallow lots more seawater than other beach users – around 170 ml per session, which is more than ten times that of sea swimmers. We’ve already shown that this water may contain antibiotic-resistant bacteria, but we have no idea how this might affect the microbes that live in our guts, or how it could impact upon health.”
According to Andy Cummins, Campaigns Director at Surfers Against Sewage, comparing the swabs to those who don’t regularly spend time in the ocean will provide researchers with a better understanding of the microbes that are colonizing participant’s guts, and, in turn, paint a clearer picture of how antibiotic resistance in the environment can affect people.
He continued, “The rise of antibiotic resistant bacteria has been described as one of the greatest health threats facing humans today. As microbes become immune to existing antibiotics, our ability to treat common infections is rapidly diminishing and a UK government review recently called on the global pharmaceutical industry to create a £1.3bn innovation fund into new antibiotics research.”
To participate, volunteers should register their details with Surfers Against Sewage [david@sas.org.uk] and must live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. They will be provided with a Beach Bums kit to collect their samples and also asked to complete a short questionnaire. All data collected will be treated as strictly confidential.
