|
 LOS ANGELES (AP) - Beach sand can be teeming with bacteria even when the ocean water is clean, according to a study released on Tuesday.
Health officials have long known that urban runoff pollutes ocean water with microbes including E. coli and enterococci bacteria found in fecal material. The study by University of California, Los Angeles researchers found microbes can grow in the sand as well, and remain there long after the ocean has flushed itself clean.
"Even on days when the water is very clean, bacteria is still in the sand for a week," said Jennifer Jay, a UCLA environmental engineering professor who headed the study. "We feel it can be an important exposure route" for contamination.
|