[whataretheysaying] Mary Madigan: Gidget goes to the ER

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Posted by Mary Madigan:
Gidget goes to the ER
http://whataretheysaying.powerblogs.com/posts/1153335345.shtml


   Via [1]AP

     LOS ANGELES - As many as 1.5 million people are sickened by
     bacterial pollution on Southern California beaches each year,
     resulting in millions of dollars in public health care costs, a new
     study has found.

     The study prepared by researchers at the University of
     California-Los Angeles and Stanford University is believed to be
     the first to examine illnesses at a large swath of the nation's
     most popular beaches. Previous studies have linked health problems
     to contamination at individual beaches.

     "This helps us understand (the) risks and identify beaches where
     cleanup can yield the most benefit," said Linwood Pendleton, an
     environmental economist at UCLA and an author of the study.

     The study, posted Monday on the Web site of the journal
     Environmental Science and Technology, covers 100 miles of shoreline
     in Los Angeles and Orange counties, which is visited by an
     estimated 80 million people annually.

     The study found that between 627,800 and 1,479,200 "excess" cases
     of gastrointestinal illness occur at the beaches each year. That is
     beyond the number that would normally be expected.

   ..and people make fun of the Jersey shore

References

   1. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060719/ap_on_sc/beach_bacteria