Residents and tourists lured onto Florida beaches despite health warnings

Signs such as this one were posted on Florida panhandle beaches as early as June 10, but were removed from some beaches last weekend only to be reposted on Monday, June 28. (AP Photo/Dave Martin).

It appears that some Florida officials are more worried about the state's economy than the health of residents and vacationers.

Despite health advisory signs that have been posted as early as June 10, Florida Governor Charlie Crist told CBS News on Saturday the water is safe and people should not worry. “It is safe,” Crist declared, “there isn’t a toxic nature to it that is detrimental to anybody. It is much more of a nuisance than anything else at this point.”

The Escambia County Health Department lifted a health advisory on Pensacola Beach on Friday, June 27 on the advice of a beach official and against the advice of a federal environmental official, according to the Pensacola News Journal. But the advisory was not lifted for Gulf Islands National Seashore's Fort Pickens beach, immediately west of Pensacola Beach or Johnson Beach on Perdido Key.

Hours after the Pensacola Beach advisory was lifted, the health department asked for state approval to issue an oil-impact advisory that leaves the decision to swim in the Gulf of Mexico up to the discretion of individual beachgoers. Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to put decontamination stations along the beach, possibly as early as this weekend.

These seemingly contradictory moves have sent mixed signals to an already ill-informed public and consequently, many residents and tourists were lured onto the beaches - and into the water, last weekend. Before the weekend, 400 people had already sought medical care for upper or lower respiratory problems, headaches, nausea, and eye irritation after trips to Escambia County beaches, said Dr. John Lanza, director of Escambia County Health Department.

"I only went into the water up to my ankles. That's as far as I wanted to go," said Joe Chambers, 28, of West Pensacola as he scrubbed off oily residue from himself and his son, Ethan, 4, in the public showers at Casino Beach. "It doesn't smell like the beach. It smells like a gas station. There are no fish in the water. There's nothing alive in the water. I don't know how public officials can just look at the water and make a call to reopen it for swimming."

Indeed, looks can be deceiving. The Pensacola News Journal article points out that only visual assessments of the water and sand were done before the health advisory was lifted. Other more scientific assessments of water samples have been conducted by Dick Snyder, director of the Center for Environmental Diagnostics and Bioremediation at the University of West Florida.

"What you can’t see in the water may be more dangerous than what you can see, Snyder said. …It can’t [be]seen and it poses health risks… [W]ater samples taken Thursday in the surf zone, where most people swim, at Casino Beach, reveal[ed] small amounts of alkanes, hydrocarbon molecules found in oil", he said. Small amounts are not harmful. But the heavier, complex molecules in the tar balls, "are toxic," he said.

The invisible, dissolved oil is the probably the result of the heavy use of chemical dispersants, which are also toxic, that either dissolve the oil or keep it from rising to the surface.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) warns, "people, including pregnant women, can be exposed to these chemicals by breathing them (air), by swallowing them (water, food), or by touching them (skin). If possible, everyone, including pregnant women, should avoid the oil and spill-affected areas."

Likewise, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) warns:

Oil is a complex mixture of chemicals and metals that can be toxic depending upon the amount and duration of exposure and the susceptibility of the exposed person. Children are especially vulnerable to the toxic effects of certain substances due to factors like higher respiratory and metabolic rates and systems that are still developing, like the nervous system. Because some agents are heavier than air, they accumulate close to the ground, right in the breathing zone of children. Some agents can also be absorbed through a child’s skin. Children are in a critical period of development when toxic exposures can have profound negative effects, and their exploratory behavior often places them in direct contact with materials that adults would avoid.

In the aftermath of an oil spill, particular attention should be paid to physical safety, water contamination, and exposure to substances or situations that could potentially harm children.

Despite these and other warnings, people like Elaine Fox were not discouraged from visiting the beaches. “We’ve played in the water. No one is sick, and we’re all going back out today,” said Fox, among 50 that came to the beach as a group from Family Church in West Monroe, La. “I think a lot of this is nothing but media hype.” She spent time photographing her pregnant daughter-in-law Christi Fox, 25, who lounged in the surf draped in a white cloth covering a white bikini. A few tar balls stuck to her bathing suit as she walked back to their condominium.

While it may not be the place of the government to prevent people from swimming in the Gulf - that should be an individual decision - it is the responsibility of the state to fully inform and warn people of the health risks of doing so. It is utterly irresponsible for the Florida governor to announce on national television that the water is safe.

Here are a few videos of beach goers and the condition of Florida beaches last weekend that were open to the public:

Child after stepping on tar ball:

Seagrove beach:

Warning sign:

Gov. Crist's statement:

Florida waters test positive for dissolved oil:

Many more videos here at pcolagregg's channel.