What’s in the water? Pollution fears taint Rio’s picturesque bay ahead of Olympics

There can be few more beautiful city sights in the world than that from the Marina da Gloria, where the Rio 2016 Olympic sailing events will be launched this weekend. Look out from the quayside across Guanabara Bay and the panorama takes in Sugarloaf mountain, the Niteroi bridge and the distant hills of the Serra dos Orgãos national park, while behind you are the palm trees of Flamengo Park and the statue of Christ the Redeemer. But this treat for the eyes – which will make it the perfect backdrop for TV sports broadcasts – is sometimes so polluted with untreated human waste that it can also be an assault on the nose and the immune system, prompting a recommendation from the United Nations that competitors and spectators should spend as little time in the water as possible. In its latest advice, the World Health Organisation said: “It is suggested that all athletes should cover cuts and grazes with waterproof plasters prior to exposure, try to avoid swallowing the water, wash/shower as soon as possible after exposure and, as far as possible, minimise their time in the water and avoid going in the water after heavy rainfall if possible.” Many locals, however, ask why it has taken hosting the Olympics for city authorities take notice of a problem that they have had to live with for more than a decade. “The water quality is shit because the sewage flushes in untreated. We all know that. No local would swim in it because we know we would get a disease,” said Alex Batista, a skateboard instructor who teaches on the Aterro do Flamengo, an area of reclaimed land between the bay and the city centre. That popular wisdom has been reinforced by a series of studies in the past year, which suggest that Guanabara Bay – and other aquatic venues the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoa (rowing and canoeing) and Copacabana beach (triathlon and open water swimming) – are teeming with pathogens. The Associated Press reported levels of bacteria and viruses so high that swallowing just three teaspoons of water from the bay was likely to lead to severe stomach and respiratory illnesses. Concentrations of adenoviruses were said to be thousands of times higher than the levels considered safe in the US or Europe. Leading UK medical journal the Lancet has warned that the risk to the health of athletes was “of concern”. In an editorial last year it said: “Nearly 1,400 of the more than 10,000 athletes competing at the Games will be directly exposed to the contaminants in this water.

Read More: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/aug/03/pollution-fears-taint-rio-bay-olympic-games

Posted by admin on Aug 4 2016. Filed under News at Now. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry