Expert to Rio athletes: ‘Don’t put your head under water’

Some species of bacteria break down in warm water and sunlight, both of which are ready commodities in Brazil.

While local authorities including Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes have acknowledged the failure of the city’s water cleanup efforts, calling it a “lost chance” and a “shame”, Olympic officials continue to insist Rio’s waterways will be safe for athletes and visitors. “It’s sad but also worrisome”.

“They can try to block big items like sofas and dead bodies, but these rivers are pure sludge…so the bacteria and viruses are going to just pass through”, Stelberto Soares, a municipal engineer told.

A little slice of “paradise” on Botafogo beach, near Guanabara Bay.

The beaches, according to the AP, even violate Rio’s own standards for clean water; water is considered polluted if it contains 2500 fecal coliforms for every 100ml of water, which amounts to about half a cup.

Rio has long had problems meeting the World Health Organization’s limits for unsafe air pollutants known as particulate matter (PM), mostly on account of the high volumes of vehicles clogging up the city’s roads and emitting exhaust fumes into the atmosphere. An AP article published this week reiterates those findings, and a biology professor at the University of South Florida offered some free advice: “Don’t put your head under the water”. “You just would not see this”.

The highest readings were at the Olympic stadium – with a peak of 65 PM 2.5 during a June 30 test taken mid-morning, the same time of day athletes will compete.

Olympic sailors competing in the Rio de Janeiro may navigate through fetid waters and possibly bump into floating trash.

Athletes face a “veritable petri dish of pathogens in numerous city’s waters, from rotaviruses that can cause diarrhea and vomiting to drug-resistant “superbacteria” that can be fatal to people with weakened immune systems”, the report said.

That disparity was borne out in the AP’s testing.

But the danger isn’t only present in Rio’s waterways. The samples from the two beaches revealed high levels of viruses and recent studies have said that babies and small children could be affected the most by swimming in these waters.

IOC President Thomas Bach issued another defense of his handling of the Russian doping scandal Monday, saying the decision not to exclude the entire Russian team from the Rio de Janeiro Olympics was based on human rights…