Fun in the Sand Now Hindered by Fecal Bacteria

Heading to sunny Florida this summer? Not to spoil your vacation, but you may want to think twice before letting the kids bury you in the sand. Dr. Andrew Rogerson, an oceanographer working with the EPA, recently finished a study on the levels of fecal-derived bacteria in Florida beach sand, and his results are, for lack of a better word, foul. The wet sand along the edge of the beach—called the intertidal zone—and dry sand directly above it contained significantly more fecal bacteria than the seawater that lapped along the shore. The bacteria, a product of sewage dumped into the water, appear to become concentrated in the sand as the tide ebbs and flows, and use the sand's large surface area as a breeding ground. All of the fecal organisms the researchers found were "capable of enhanced survival in sand and, more importantly, were capable of growth in the sand ...