Surfers Against Sewage has teamed up with the European Centre for the Environment & Human Health (Exeter University Medical School) to produce a study to help identify the health risks associated with exposure to marine pollution. And we need your help!
Please complete survey today.
The survey will help to assess the accuracy of current water quality monitoring procedures. The current sampling strategy involves taking on average one water sample from each beach once a week during the bathing season, which typically runs from 15th May to 30th September each year. Yet water quality at a single beach can vary enormously throughout the day and at different points along the length of a beach.
The more data we have, the more robust our findings will be to support our ongoing clean water initiatives. Over recent years concern about the cleanliness of coastal water and its possible adverse effects on health has led to tighter regulations and monitoring of seawater at popular beaches. Yet, new standards are about to come into force and a shocking 10% of the UK’s bathing waters are predicted to fail.
Please take the 5 minutes to fill in the short online survey. All the data will be treated as confidential and the questionnaire covers your health, visits to the beach and the activities you have undertaken at the beach.
To ensure we have a good control group we need to hear from you even if you haven’t been to the beach or used the sea in the last few weeks. Complete the survey here.
The survey will be going live from 2nd June 2014 for two weeks.
We know that water quality at a single beach can vary enormously throughout the day and at different points along its length. By comparing the health of those who’ve been in the sea with those who haven’t, we’re hoping to gain an insight into the risks of coastal bathing – and an understanding of whether this risk is reduced at beaches that are classified as safe by the current monitoring procedure.
Dr William Gaze, senior researcher
Surfers Against Sewage is delighted to be working with experts at the University of Exeter Medical School. We want to establish a more detailed understanding of how marine pollution is affecting the health of recreational water users, so that everyone can make the most of this fantastic natural resource.
Andy Cummins, SAS Campaign Director
This study is all about understanding risks. In order to do this we need lots of people to respond, whether they’ve been to a beach or not. Anyone aged 18 or over can take part – either online or using a smartphone.
PhD student Anne Leonard
