Dozens of beaches across the United States were forced to close this month following reports of an increase in toxic bacteria contaminating the water.
An advisory against bathing at beaches in states nationwide, including California, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Massachusetts, and Washington state was issued by health officials this month after they determined that swimming is potentially unsafe due to high levels of bacteria.
It’s extremely rare for beachgoers to get infected by the flesh-eating kind of toxic bacteria, which more often affects people with certain underlying health conditions.
The department noted that the beaches were considered potentially unsafe if fecal indicator bacteria levels exceeded the “Beach Action Value”—a marine recreational water quality standard used to determine if bacteria levels are unsafe—in association with an estimated illness rate of 32 out of every 1,000 swimmers. The primary sources of fecal contamination include sewage overflows and runoff pollution.
“Even as Americans are back to enjoying the fresh sea breeze and splash of waves at the beach, pollution still plagues too many of the places where we swim,” said John Rumpler, clean water program director for Environment America in a statement.
“Now is the time to fix our water infrastructure and stop the flow of pathogens to our beaches.”
According to the report, out of the 556 beaches surveyed in Massachusetts, 264 were potentially unsafe for swimming at least one day in 2020, while 29 beaches were unsafe 25 percent or more of the days they were tested. The samples were measured against the EPA’s highest warning level.
“Though it makes a good headline, it is hyperbolic to suggest that swimming on 264 out of 457 beaches in Massachusetts poses a threat to human health because they may have failed one water quality test in 2020 after a summer rain,” said Chris Mancini, executive director of Save the Harbor/Save the Bay.