How a Playful Summer Activity Can Significantly Harm Your Health

How many times have you made a sandcastle or buried a family member or friend under the sand vacationing at the beach? Did you ever think that this could have made you sick? The reality is that yes, it can. New research is showing that the sand can actually hold much greater health risks than the water.

Danger on the Beach

Recent research has shown that adults and children who play in the sand near water sources that may be at risk for contamination are at a much higher risk of developing gastrointestinal diseases or diarrhea than those who play in the water or walk the shoreline alone. Children, who are more likely to get sand in their mouths, are at an even higher risk for exposure.

Why is Sand More Dangerous?

Sand  on several beaches have been found to contain signs of fecal matter contamination but the implications aren’t yet clear on what this means for handling sand at the beach. Fecal contamination can cause poor health without the victim being aware of the contagion until symptoms begin to show much later. The study that made these findings, which included scientists from the Environmental Protection Agency, was founded on interviews with more than 27,000 beach goers who visited seven marine and freshwater beaches in the agency’s National Epidemiology and Environmental Assessment of Recreational Water Study in 2003-2005 and also in 2007. Though swimming in contaminated water had been studied before and been proven to cause illness, sand hadn’t been considered an important source for these contaminants, therefore this study was the first to evaluate the role it played. The evidence is more than a little dismaying for parents who take their children to the beach regularly.

What Can I do to be Safe?

During the course of the study beach goers were asked how they came in contact with the sand during their stay (whether it was through being buried or digging in it) and then reached by telephone 10 to 12 days later. When they were called they were asked questions about any symptoms or illness they might have experienced after their visit and the results were compared. After their findings, epidemiolists involved with the study indicated that it was fine to play with sand at the beach as long as the children and adults who did so washed their hands or applied some hand sanitizer after they were finished. A day at the beach doesn’t have to become something to worry about, try keeping these things in mind when going to the beach:

1. How Safe is the Water? If an area has a reputation for making people sick from time to time it’s best to avoid it.
2. Keep an Eye Out: Watch little ones to make sure they don’t put sand in their mouth and keep children from getting the sand too close to the face if they cover someone with it.
3. Is It Clean? If a beach has more than a little trash or the water seems off-color err on the side of safety and find another beach.
   

Summer can still be fun at the beach! Just make sure you’re taking the proper precautions when it comes to both the sand and the water.