A new report warns that nearly two-thirds of U.S. beaches were contaminated with fecal bacteria at least once in 2024, exposing millions of Americans to potentially dangerous swimming conditions and triggering thousands of health advisories, The Hill reported.
A report released by Environment America Research & Policy Center found that 1,930 of 3,187 beaches tested in 2024 — roughly 61% — had at least one day where fecal pollution exceeded federal safety standards.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s “Beach Action Value” served as the benchmark in the analysis. The protective threshold helps states decide when to issue swim advisories or close beaches to prevent illness. The report classified any beach that surpassed this value on a given day as “potentially unsafe.”
Approximately 1 in 7 beaches — 453 — exceeded the threshold on at least 25% of the testing days.
Regional trends varied widely. Beaches along the Gulf Coast were the most frequently affected, with 84% experiencing at least one unsafe day.
The West Coast followed closely with 79%, and the Great Lakes region reported 71%. East Coast beaches fared somewhat better, with 54% reporting contamination rates. In contrast, Alaska and Hawaii reported the lowest contamination rates, with only 10% of beaches recording unsafe days.
According to the report’s authors, swimming in polluted water can result in gastrointestinal illnesses, respiratory issues, skin rashes, and infections of the ears and eyes. Although most cases go unreported, researchers estimate that around 57 million such illnesses occur nationwide each year.
Federal data also showed that more than 7,563 beach advisories or closures occurred in 2024 along U.S. coastal and Great Lakes beaches, impacting approximately 1 in every 15 swimming days.
The findings were based on samples obtained through the National Water Quality Monitoring Council’s Water Quality Portal, focusing on historical beach sites as defined under the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act of 2000. A beach site was considered “potentially unsafe” if it recorded an illness risk exceeding the EPA’s threshold of 32 illnesses per 1,000 swimmers.
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