Cofepris test the most visited Mexican beaches for contamination before Easter holidays begin

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To determine if the most important beaches in the country are suitable or not, the Cofepris ( Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks ) began this Tuesday, taking samples of the sea in 17 coastal states of Mexico.

This with the aim of defining whether or not they represent a risk to the health of bathers who will visit these tourist destinations at Easter.

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Cofepris will coordinate with state authorities, as well as the National Public Health Laboratory Network, to carry out the collection of samples in more than 290 beaches.

This study consists of collecting seawater on 6 different occasions and analyzing it to determine its quality, a process that began in Acapulco, Guerrero, where the headquarters of the National Health Secretariat is located.

These analyzes are carried out and published prior to the high season for beach bathers, such as Easter, summer, and winter holidays.

In addition to sampling, Cofepris carries out other water surveillance and sanitary control activities, such as the monitoring of permissible limits of microbiological, physical, chemical, or radioactive characteristics.

The results of clean beaches are published in three holiday periods: Easter, summer, and winter and are available through the platform built between Cofepris and the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat).

In addition to sampling, which has been carried out since 2003, Cofepris also monitors the permissible limits of microbiological, physical, organoleptic, chemical, and radioactive characteristics.

In 2021, the results of the clean beaches program revealed that 99.5% of those analyzed were considered suitable for vacations.

Among the 198 beaches analyzed, Los Cabos and La Paz, in Baja California, were considered the cleanest in 2021.

What are the dangers of high bacterial levels at the beaches?


According to the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States, children, the elderly, and people with
weakened immune systems are the most likely populations to develope illnesses are unpleasant, they are usually not very serious. They require little or no treatment or get better quickly upon treatment, and they have no long-term health effects.


The most common illness associated with swimming in water polluted by sewage is gastroenteritis. It occurs in a variety of forms that can have one or more of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, stomachache, diarrhea, headache or fever. Symptoms easily confused with Montezuma’s revenge, making it difficult to
identify polluted beaches as the culprit to your travel illnesses.


Other minor illnesses associated with swimming include ear, eye, nose, and throat infections. In highly polluted water, swimmers may occasionally be exposed to more serious diseases.

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Source: gob.mx/cofepris

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