## 5 Results and Discussion
### Microganisms Analyses  
According to the fungi analyses results from S1 and S7 samples, the largest number of isolations (11 and 7, respectively) were recorded. Samples S2, S3 and S6 resulted from two isolates per sample. Finally, no isolation was obtained from samples S4 and S5. Skin-disease-causing dermatophyte fungi were not isolated from our samples. From the five soil samples, 24 isolates were morphologically identified. S1, S2, S3, S6 and S7 were identified as _Metarhiziumanisopliae_ (Metchnikoff), Sorokin (Hypocreales: Clavicipitaceae), _Beauveria basiana_ (Bals.-Criv.) and Vuill. (Hypocreales: Cordycipitaceae). Occurrence of EPF (entomopathogenic fungi) in the soil depends also on the soil type, plant species and cultivation practices of the surrounding study area (Figure 9). The fungi also exhibit very low mammalian toxicity [62; 63; 64; 65]. Furthermore, these fungi are not damaging to plants and are non-threatening to animals and people [64; 65; 66; 67; 68]. Muds in pelotherapy applications are used for their thermal properties, with people who receive mud treatment either being covered with mud wholly or locally, or entering pools containing mud and applying the mud on their bodies. Therefore, it was pointed out that parameters that might impair the hygienic conditions of peloids and thermal waters are mainly coliforms and fecal coliforms, as well as bacteria of the groups Pseudomonas and Staphylococcus [69]. _P. aeruginosa_ is a gram-negative, aerobic and ubiquitous environmental bacterium, being present in moist areas and surface waters and a possible cause of exposure to the bacteria [70; 71]. However, there are no international quality standards for mud or peloid applications, except in a few countries, such as Germany, France and Cuba, who follow national microbiological specifications [72]. Nevertheless, the low fungi load in the studied samples is not expected to significantly influence the adsorption/absorption clays capacity during mud therapy on the human skin. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline
**wt\%** & **S1** & **S2** & **S6** & **S5** & **S0** & **Acceptant Levels** \\ \hline Ppm & & & & & \\ As & 14.1 & 10.8 & 12.3 & 11.3 & 9.3 & \\
**V** & 125 & 89 & 103 & 98 & 63 & \\
**Cr** & **177** & **210** & **220** & **181** & **98** & **n.t.**[31; 53; 58] \\
**Co** & 20.3 & 17.8 & 19.3 & 20.3 & 8.7 & \\
**Ni** & 145 & 120 & 138 & 125 & 55 & \\
**Cu** & 35 & 26 & 28 & 25 & 9 & \\
**Zn** & 79 & 84 & 75 & 70 & 62 & \\
**Rb** & 107 & 83 & 98 & 88 & 62 & \\
**Sr** & **251** & **369** & **321** & **311** & **195** & **1.h.**[31; 53; 58] \\
**Y** & 20.2 & 19.1 & 18.9 & 19.9 & 16.8 & \\
**Zr** & **100** & **105** & **102** & **99** & **163** & **L.r.**[31; 53; 58] \\
**Ba** & **241** & **226** & **238** & **222** & **315** & **L.r.**[31; 53; 58] \\
**Hf** & 2.3 & 2.8 & 2.6 & 2.1 & 3.8 & \\
**W** & 1.4 & 1.0 & 1.0 & 1.0 & 1.5 & \\
**Pb** & 12 & 11 & 13 & 12 & 15 & **n.t.**[60; 61] \\
**La** & 26 & 21 & 24 & 24 & 28 & \\
**Ce** & 50.3 & 45.2 & 48.0 & 46.1 & 57.3 & \\
**Th** & 8.8 & 6.8 & 7.3 & 7.1 & 8.3 & \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 4: _Cont._Total coliforms refer to a large class of bacteria present in nature, whereas _E. coli_ refers to recent fecal infection. Coliforms are most likely present in virgin mud as natural colonizers that remain in the culture plant because of maturation tanks' permissive thermal water  
Figure 9: (**a,b**) Infected larvae in Petri dishes with a filter paper impregnated with dH\({}_{2}\)O; (**c,d**) isolates of _Beauveria bassiana_ from samples S1 and S6; (**e,f**) petri dishes with soil of samples after three days (Soil Plate method); (**g,h**) isolates of _Metrahiziumanisopliae_ from sample S7. temperatures. Two samples (S3, S5) were found to be positive for _E. coli_ and _P. aeruginosa_ (Table 5). Their presence may be due to either immaculate contamination of virgin mud or a defective regeneration operation in used mud. The hygienic quality of Kefalonia samples is of core importance. However, presence _E. coli_ and _P.