New study shows over 50% of U.S. beaches contained potentially unsafe levels of fecal contamination in 2022

1,761 of the 3,192 tested beaches across the country reached "potentially unsafe levels" of fecal contamination, based on the Environmental Protection Agency's "Beach Action Value" metric.

News 12 Staff

Jul 11, 2023, 9:16 PM

Updated 433 days ago

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New study shows over 50% of U.S. beaches contained potentially unsafe levels of fecal contamination in 2022
With New Yorkers looking to hit the shore to cool off during the summer, a new study released by Environment America shows that approximately 55% of beaches in the United States had potentially unsafe contamination levels in 2022. 
In 2022, 1,761 of the 3,192 tested beaches across the country reached "potentially unsafe levels" of fecal contamination, based on the Environmental Protection Agency's "Beach Action Value" metric. The study revealed that in 2022, 363 beaches across the country had potentially unsafe levels of fecal contamination on a quarter of the days when testing took place.
344 of New York's beaches were tested by Environment America, with 198 of them containing potentially unsafe levels of fecal indicator bacteria on at least one testing day. 41 of the beaches had unsafe levels on over 25% of all the testing days last year. 
Click here to see the beaches in New York that had the most potentially unsafe days in 2022.