Pathogenic fungi: An unacknowledged risk at coastal resorts? New insights on microbiological sand quality in Portugal

► 60.4% of the analyzed marine beach sand samples were positive for the studied fungi. ► Candida sp. and Aspergillus sp. were the most frequent fungal species found. ► 25.2% of the analyzed marine beach sand samples were positive to the studied bacteria. ► Positive association was found between the presence of yeasts and coliforms. ► Proposal of microbiological threshold values for marine beach sands.