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Beaches: How Safe is It? - EH: Minnesota Department of Health Page 4 of 6 <br />"blooms ". As they grow, algae produce toxic <br />materials that may cause gastrointestinal illness. <br />What are the health risks? <br />Hazards from recreational bathing are related to exposure through swimming or ingestion. The <br />most common form of illness contracted from swimming in water is gastroenteritis -symptoms <br />of gastroenteritis include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, headache and fever. Other <br />illnesses such as respiratory illness or infections may also occur after exposure to <br />contaminated waters. <br />How do I know if the water is safe? <br />Public Health officials access water quality through a combination of sanitary inspection and <br />microbial water quality assessment. <br />There is no simple way of determining if waters are free of contamination without laboratory <br />tests. Local authorities may also decide to take precautionary measures such as testing more <br />frequently, chasing away birds, grooming the beach to remove contaminants and possibly <br />closing the beach. <br />How is water tested? <br />Water from public beaches is sampled for elevated levels of fecal coliform and/or E. coll. When <br />high levels are found, beaches are closed to reduce likelihood of disease. Unfortunately, water <br />testing is often difficult for private beach owners and for popular swimming areas that are not <br />monitored by health departments. <br />The E. coli variant known as 0157:H7, made famous in several meat contamination cases, has <br />also been associated with drinking contaminated water and can cause severe intestinal illness. <br />In very rare cases, it can cause severe kidney problems (such as hemolytic uremic syndrome). <br />Although coliform bacteria themselves are not usually harmful, these bacteria can be <br />associated with other disease. causing bacteria or parasites. In order to maintain healthy <br />swimming beaches, the State of Minnesota established the following recommendations: <br />• The average of five swimming beach samples in a 30-day period should not exceed a <br />count of more than 200 fecal coliform bacteria cells per 100 mL of water. <br />• No one sample should have a fecal coliform count greater than 1,000 bacteria colonies <br />per 100 mL of water. If a sample exceeds 1,000 bacteria colonies per <br />100 mL, consideration should be given to closing the swimming beach. <br />Who is responsible for testing beaches? <br />The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recommended criteria for beach water <br />monitoring. Congress has recently enacted the BEACH Act that requires states to adopt EPA's <br />recommended standard and encourage states to monitor and notify public when health <br />standards are exceeded. <br />http://www.health.state.mn.us/divsJeh/beaches/howsafe.html 5!23/2011 <br />