Figure 1. Change in concentration of biologically relevant elements upon passage from patients to the pond environment.

Data represent the average and standard deviation for three independent patient rice-water stool samples (EN159, EN182, EN191) and the pond water samples collected on the respective days of experimentation. ‘0 h Pond’ (dark grey) and ‘24 h Pond’ (light grey) represent filter sterilized pond water from the inside of dialysis bags used to incubate V. cholerae, respectively. Zn and Mn were below the level of detection in the pond. In addition, Al, B, Ba, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mo, Ni and Pb were below the level of detection; ppm = parts per million.