It’s Come to This… EPA Now Says Building Sandcastles Is Hazardous to Your Health
Posted by Jim Hoft on Tuesday, February 14, 2012, 12:32 PM
A new EPA study says that building sandcastles is hazardous to your health.
The White House Dossier reported, via FOX Nation:
A new study performed by the EPA has determined that playing in the sand at the beach can make you sick.
In an article titled “Digging in Beach Sand Linked to Increased Risk of Gastrointestinal Illness,” the EPA cites a intensive study performed by EPA researchers and other scientists which found that your risk of getting sick might increase after playing in the sand.
People take certain precautions when they go to the beach. They apply sunscreen to avoid sunburn and stay away from big waves if they are not strong swimmers. But they do not usually worry about getting sick from digging or playing in the sand.
Unfortunately, beach sand could harbor even more harmful bacteria than nearby bathing waters. EPA researchers and their counterparts at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Johns Hopkins University observed a positive relationship between sand exposure and gastrointestinal (GI) illnesses as a function of fecal microbial pollution in beach sand.
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Published May 23, 2012 at 4:57 am - 69 Comments
Txn4Evr commented:
The only thing that makes people sick is Obama and his Marxist, Islamo government.
Mona commented:
sand castles – nice metaphor for Obama’s Marxist utopia. sometimes I think these articles are from The Onion, but then, sadly, I realize they’re for real. God help us.
Xavier commented:
Feces in the beach sand. Its part of the Obama plan to destroy our precious waterfront property. Then he comes for our guns…
Dwayne the canoe guy commented:
Wow, not washing your hands leads to a higher risk of getting sick? I think that was news back in the 1880′s.
StrangernFiction commented:
OT
“That was just because I happened to be fighting hard out in Nevada. But I will clearly make the differences between myself and my opponents very clear in where I think they have misrepresented my record and my views, and I’ll make that very clear.”
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/02/rick-santorum-defends-earmark-spending-against-mitt-romneys-attacks/
Yes Willard, it is pretty damn clear that you are a complete fraud.
#1AMERICAN commented:
hey odumb$hit why don’t you go pound sand where the sun don’t shine…you POS mooslime
dwd commented:
Don’t eat sand, and wash your hands before you eat. Problem solved.
Geoff commented:
Recently, the county board of Los Angeles County passed an ordinance that will impose a $1000 fine for the tossing of frisbees, footballs, and the like on all beaches within the county. There are two notable exemptions to the law, one given to the movie industry and the other exempting the use of a soccer ball. I don’t have a handy link, but it can easily be searched. I saw it last week reported on the local LA CBS affiliate website.
The user comments are both hilarious but all so true. The fines do nothing but criminalize a very common everyday activity for no other purpose but to keep money flowing into the pockets of county employees, both active and retired. If safety and prevention of injury were the real issues, then soccer balls would not have been exempted. This exemption clearly panders to the immigrant Latino community, legal and illegal alike, and discriminates against both white and black beach goers who prefer frisbees and footballs.
BTW, the law also criminalizes kids digging holes in the sand with a $1000 fine per hole.
Stuart commented:
WOW! Sand castles make you sick. Guess what? Life is inevitably fatal. 100% of those who post on this website will die! 100% of those who DON’T post on this website will die.
The solution?! Don’t get born in the first place. Thats what Obama’s contraception mandate is all about. How could I have been so blind? Obama was right all along.
Gandalf commented:
Oh by the way best to not ride the subway or other public transportation – bad germs there. So why does the federal government have any say in sand castles? First folks to get fired next year – EPA – the whole damn administration. Then HHS, Energy, etc. Hire more military. Get back to what the Constitution authorizes.
nano commented:
Geez did somebody dig up Howard Hughes with his fears of all things in germ land?
DINORightMarie commented:
A great reason to seize all beach property – to protect the little people that go there, of course. It’s all about our HEALTH and SAFETY; such benevolence!!
Then, once they have all coast land in government hands, the beaches are SUDDENLY pronounced “clean” – and the government charges people to go on them. The goal is 100% of property – ALL OF IT! – to belong to the government…real estate AND your salary. Because, you see, 100% tax takes ALL YOUR SALARY, basically declaring everyone a slave to the state.
It’s about control: no liberty, no property, no rights – unless the government says so.
Nelle commented:
If we don’t vote Obama out, building some sand castles on the beach and dying may be one of our more attractive options.
wanumba commented:
#8 February 14, 2012 at 12:56 pm
Geoff commented:
BTW, the law also criminalizes kids digging holes in the sand with a $1000 fine per hole
::::::::::
Of course … so the soccer players won’t step in them and sprain their ankles.
Blacque Jacques Shellacque commented:
Here in California, I believe it. Many of the beaches here suck; there’s all kinds of flotsam all over, not to mention seaweed washed up that gives off a bit of a smell, and the sand has a grayish tinge to it.
The best beaches I ever saw in my travels were the beaches of NSW in Australia. Golden-colored sand, the water was fairly clear, and little of the junk of the kind that washes up regularly on California shores.
Getting back to this EPA report, now that they’ve told us all this, what do they plan to do about it? I’m willing to bet they’ve got some sort of regulation in mind, because they’re not just going to tell us that something is bad and leave it at that.
Sasja commented:
Don’t play football or throw a frisbee at the beach, and for goodness’ sake, don’t build any nasty sandcastles. We libs hate for anyone to enjoy their life since we hate ours.
OT
The food nazis, thanks to Mooshill, are on the march and are headed your way.
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2012/02/14/federal_agents_inspect_your_child_s_lunch
Alvin commented:
Again, just like CO2 and temperature, coorelation not causation. The nanny state rises again.
wanumba commented:
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
“Unfortunately, beach sand could harbor…”
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Ah,yes, the “could” speculation.
I wonder where we got that old saying, “sunlight is the best disinfection” … and that would be in addition to “salt water.”
When they run this stuff past lawyers, something’s fishy.
BuddyG commented:
IT’S GONNA BE SAND!!!!
Mitch_Cali_Sux commented:
Studies are nothing but advocacy for control over others. Rarely do we see who wrote whatever study comes down the pike. Most are written by a select few, on the Govt dole. Our Govt is the enemy of freedom and common sense.
davidt commented:
Gotta say, that’s an awesome sandcastle in that pic.
Rhinestone Suderman commented:
What is going on here? Are they now trying to keep people from using beaches, the way they’ve tried keeping them out of national parks, and the wilderness?
(Except for the soccer players, of course; they’ll let them in.)
RedBeard commented:
EPA? UNC? Johns Hopkins? How in the blue blazes can there be so many knuckleheaded people employed by those institutions? Are we seeing the end result of the dumbing down of America? Is Idiocracy not just a fictional film any longer?
And to add insult to injury, we taxpayers are forced to pay the salaries of those indolent clods who don’t seem to have nearly enough real work to do.
Inconsistent Truth commented:
How in the world did humanity survive all these years without the benevolent EPA? I wonder how much longer I have to live after playing in the sand all those summers?
dba...vagabond trader commented:
What a coincidence. Nanny state commies make me ill.
RedBeard commented:
Maybe if we’re forced by the meddling do-gooders to wear particulate masks, we’ll be safe. Oh, and those cute little rubber bicycling helmets, too; we just never know when we might trip over a soccer ball on the beach and risk serious head injury. And what about sand castle air bags, just to be on the safe side?
Makena commented:
Uh huh.
I live on Maui, and swimming at certain beaches isn’t advisable because
the near shore water is loaded with MRSA (Resistant Staph) because of sewage
and runoff. It also accumulates in…..The SAND.
We’ve got the worst rate of MRSA infections in the US, and it comes
mostly from the water and beaches.
Enjoy your next vacation.
Makena commented:
So ….are you upset that a lot of beach sand is full if
bacteria from human feces?
….or are you upset with the EPA for pointing it out?
Makena commented:
Wow….you people really are clueless.
…and for that, Jim Hoft is very, very grateful
Sasja commented:
Makena. Why don’t you enlightened ones in Hawaii do something about the problems of sewage and run-off contaminating the beaches? Surely there is someone in the entire state of Hawaii who can solve this problem.
WillofLa commented:
Gee, I’ve known this since I was a kid, that sand, dirt, and anything like that was not healthy to get in your mouth, ears, or any other oriface, eyes especially because even lake water can give you “pink eye”. Even ditch water can make you sick if you take in to much playing in ditches full of rain water. Why? Because the water washes out paramisiums, other microbes, bacteria, and other disease causing things when the water fills the ditch and is being pulled from the dirt from stomping in it when kids are playing in it. Same thing about beaches.
We were supposed to have learned about all of that from our parents when we were little, or our grandparents. But since there has been a disconnect between children and their parents because of the things kids are mixed up with when they get old enough to move out of the house, that their parents disagreed with as the kids were growing up. The kids hate their parents for bothering them when they were in high school, didn’t agree with the kinds of people they hung around with, didn’t like their music, didn’t like the way they dressed, etc., etc.. This is why the kids children don’t ever go visit grandma and grandpa anymore because the grandparents try to tell the little kids things that the parents don’t like their kids being told, like beaches are filthy and the parents need to wash off the kids when they leave the beach in order to prevent any kinds of diseases from getting started.
We were supposed to have learned about all that when we were kids. We didn’t because the parents were liberals and didn’t know they were supposed to have learned anything their parents, the grandparents had to teach them. So the liberal parents of kids only know what they learned from the internet, or from some even more liberal friend of theirs, or some other unorthadox source of information. The liberal friends of the parents are even dummer than the parents. So I’m not surprise the kids of liberals are getting sick, and don’t know that the sand is full of organism’s, parasites, bacteria, and other bad things that will make you sick if you don’t get clean once you get back home. Like, take a damn bath when you get home. Liberals didn’t know there was anything in the sand.
Yeah, like what did you think was in this substance that ocean water full of all kinds of organism’s does while it’s just sitting there drying out in the sun. It’s damp down deep and that’s where the organism’s migrated to get away from the sun and the heat. They need dampness and coolness to keep reproducing and growing.
Of course if the parents of kids had learned anything while they were sitting in Biology class, instead of sleeping or texting their friends they might have learned that organism’s grow in dirt, and sand, and lake water, ocean water, or river water and the shore along the river or stream. Organism’s grow everywhere. Do you know why? Because we live on a planet where there are micro organism’s we can’t see that can make you sick. Sorry if you don’t like living on Earth, but that’s what you get when you live here. If you don’t like living on Earth along with all the micro organism’s you can’t see, then move to some other planet. Otherwise you had better learn about what life on Earth is, and how easy it is for human’s to get sick for nearly everything you touch, breath, or lick, or any damn thing else.
How many germs do you think you get inside your body when you French kiss your girlfriend or wife? You don’t want to know!!
WillofLa commented:
But all that was back when people were responsible for our own lives, problems, illnesses we got when we didn’t clean up after being on the beach. But now, the liberal nanny stater’s are taking that freedom away from each of us and are here to tell us the what for. If the government thinks it knows better than we do, then we’re going to get this kind of intervention into our personal lives.
What the government is looking at is insurance companies records, hospital emergency room records, doctor records documenting someone coming in with an illness, and they are sick from getting some parasite into their body from not cleaning up from being on the beach. So now the government is seeing a higher number of people getting sick and what they tell their doctor’s is the last place they were was the beach playing in the sand. Ohhh, but that couldn’t have been where they could have picked up this bug, could it? Yeah!
And the government doesn’t see any kind of trend that indicates that people are learning and teaching others to clean themselves up after they’ve been on the beach or any place like that and have been in the water, or playing in the sand or dirt. The government sees a trend that is going upwards that more people are not learning what they need to learn from getting sick from being on the beach. So the government takes it upon itself to do something about it to stop sickness in our society that keeps showing up on newspapers about more people getting sick. If it’s something in the sand the authorities need to keep people from getting on them, they will close down that part of the beach, or the whole beach entirely to keep dumb people from getting themselves sick.
Don’t be surprised because you didn’t learn how to keep yourself healthy. The government will do it for you!!
justavoter commented:
I would just laugh and say so what, you gonna arrest me for making a sand castle……But…..This is the week of being forced to betray your faith at the governments whim, it’s a week where it has come to our attention that kids in NC have their lunch box food rummaged through by strangers who then determine if the child can eat it or not.
It is dawning on me that I am the opposite of Michelle Obama, I have always been proud of my country but the pangs of shame for the country are upon me.
Next will come hate.
UpChuck.Liberals commented:
So, what are they going to do with all the sand boxes in play grounds? Keep the kids out, turn it into concrete, fence it off ……. Oh I dispise Liberals.
Sasja commented:
This is just silly. Don’t tell the gubmint but years ago, while visiting New Orleans, I contracted a little parasite my doctor said probably came from unwashed lettuce. These little buggers are everywhere. So what. Folks today are becoming too obsessed about “germs.”
Usually a person’s immune system takes care of most invaders.
My boys would come home from playing with all sorts of wiggly worms, mud, and some creatures I couldn’t identify, in their pants pockets and not one of them ever came down with anything worse than a runny nose.
Pure lunacy.
Rhinestone Suderman commented:
“Ven der Vaterland issues orders, the peasants must obey! Otherwise, they are most childish, and immature! Heil the Vaterland!”
Gary, if the EPA were actually doing its job, it would actually clean the beaches, rather than trying to prevent people from using them.
Rhinestone Suderman commented:
I suspect it’s a ploy to keep humans off beaches, period.
Because we do awful things like collect seashells, and build sandcastles, and it disturbs the orcas and dolphins, not to mention the seagulls, and makes Mother Gaea cry. . .
Rhinestone Suderman commented:
They want the ordinances keeping people from using the beach in place, before summer begins. The elites, of course, will have special dispensation to loll around on the sand all they like, and toss frisbees. But, then, they work so hard taking care of poor folks! /Sarc.
“You vill obey the EPA! You vill not question orders, ja wohl!”
TSA inspector commented:
FTA: “Digging in Beach Sand Linked to Increased Risk of Gastrointestinal Illness”
EPA concludes you must not eat or pound sand.
Taqiyyotomist commented:
WillofLA
I would like for you, for your and all of our good — and this is said with all due respect, for I actually agree with you more often than not — to do a word-study:
The target word is “brevity”.
I am guilty sometimes, but your nic should be (and this may be seen by some as “off-color” or risque)
10″ Will.
Because your comments are usually, at minimum, 10″ long on my screen.
Brevity is good. Breaking up your paragraphs (minimum 3 for you, I’ve noticed!) into more readable chunks is good, too. IMHO.
My 2cents — but I would bet my last dollar that greater than 90% of the folks who read these comment sections pass over your comments immediately — surfing is for the short-attention-spanned. Consider the success of Twitter.
Even breaking your usual three paragraphs into Twitter-sized chunks makes them more readable.
And again, with all due respect I offer this criticism. I usually agree with your views, but I noticed that many commenters do not respond — that’s because they don’t read “walls of text” in this particular venue. Doesn’t mean they are incapable of reading Tolstoy — it means this venue, blog commenting, is more conducive to “chunks” of thought.
Just some thoughts.
Taqiyyotomist commented:
WillofLA
Re: brevity
You’re giving us whole sides of beef — 99% of us prefer cold cuts.
Taqiyyotomist commented:
(It’s still good beef… but you are wasting your time and probably developing carpal tunnel syndrome at the same time!)
Sasja commented:
I suppose we shouldn’t be doing this either.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEsjo8gt2VY
Mr. Patriot Conservative commented:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mr-Patriot-Conservative/179254035420598
Hazardous to Your Health Where is the Beef ????
tommy mc donnell commented:
it must be some kind of first step in a government takeover of the beaches.
Valerie commented:
Some states test the water, and close the beaches when there is coliform present.
mark commented:
And how much drugs are being brought into the USA by illegals and all their diseases too all sorts of illnesses
uh what commented:
You people are all insane. Could someone, please, tell me where it says anything about the government trying to keep people off the beaches? Did any of you actually read the study? Or, did you just read the snippet, at the top of this page? They’re checking beaches that are, specifically, near waste-treatment facilities, to determine if there are any contaminants that shouldn’t be there. It’s not about regulating beaches. It’s about regulating the waste facilities.
Gary commented:
Re: Gary 39
That was not posted by me. It was by the coward who used to call himself Molon Labe.
He’s sulking because I reminded everybody that he said he would vote for Obama if Romney got the nomination.
So now he’s trying to ruin my username the way he ruined his own.
It wouldn’t happen on a site with a username/password system.
For any liberal posts under my name, just address your replies to Molon Labe the coward.
Thanks