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 Health & Beauty | July 2006 
Beach Bacteria Sicken Over a Million Annually
 Gary Polakovic - LATimes
| | Removing fecal contamination from the waters off Southern California beaches could prevent up to 1.5 million cases of gastrointestinal illness among swimmers and other recreational water users annually, a new study has found. Children attending an arts and entertainment camp for the summer play in the surf of Playa Del Rey. (Genaro Molina/LAT) |
Bacteria pollution at many Southern California beaches is responsible for illnesses in up to 1.5 million swimmers and bathers annually as well as tens of millions of dollars in healthcare and other related costs, a new study shows.
Previous studies have linked health problems to contaminated surf at individual beaches, but the report is the first to examine the health impacts at beaches spanning 100 miles of waterfront from San Clemente to the Ventura County line.
Researchers at UCLA and Stanford conducted the study and their findings were posted today on the website of the journal Environmental Science and Technology.
The findings show that between 627,800 and 1,479,200 excess gastrointestinal illnesses occur annually at the Los Angeles and Orange County beaches surveyed. Such illnesses include diarrhea, vomiting and other symptoms. The estimated health effects are somewhat conservative because they do not include eye, ear and nose infections or other illnesses associated with polluted water.
Researchers estimated that healthcare costs for beach pollution illnesses ranged from $21 million to $414 million. Those estimates included not only direct losses, such as lost time at work, costs for medical treatment or doctor visits, but also hypothetical costs that beachgoers would be willing to pay to avoid getting sick.
Linwood Pendleton, a UCLA environmental economist and an author of the study, said the findings demonstrated the magnitude of savings that could be realized if Southern California cities were held to stringent discharge limits that would prevent exceeding the fecal coli standards at beaches. Such limits were scheduled to take effect July 15 under a court settlement, but state water quality officials missed the deadline.
"There are many days when the beach is posted, but not closed, when bacterial counts are elevated and there are many days when bacterial counts are not high, but high enough to cause excess illness," Pendleton said.
The study focused specifically on 28 beaches in Los Angeles and Orange counties during 2000, including Santa Monica, Zuma and Newport beaches. Researchers used bacteria measurements from surf as well as beach attendance estimates and extrapolated the health effects using two computer models based on wet and dry seasons.
Between 150 million and 400 million visits are made to California beaches annually, generating billions of dollars in expenditures by tourists, swimmers and surfers. |
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