Many popular beaches in America are also the dirtiest.
Beaches in calm areas are most prone to this; less water gets swept back out to sea, the sand never gets “cleaned” with the tide, and everything just sort of sits around and festers.
And unfortunately, many people flock to calm beaches because it’s easy to swim in—increasing foot traffic and the likelihood of contamination.
The EPA classifies a safe-for-swimming beach “if only one out of every 28 beachgoers gets sick.”
Wait, what?
That standard is set at a level that allows 36 gastrointestinal illnesses for every 1,000 swimmers. So there’s just enough pollution allowed to ensure that only 35 people out of every 1,000 get upset stomachs from ingesting human or animal waste. Says the NRDC: “Just imagine a restaurant where 1 in 28 people were allowed to get sick—these are simply unacceptable standards.”
That’s pretty disgusting.
All beaches are different, too. Some test daily, some test less frequently.
The NRDC guide has a map of beaches across America so you can get an idea of the waters you’re swimming in.
It sure makes a sunburn sound like the least of your worries this summer…
