You can now consult a list of places to avoid or target as an environmental watchdog has published a map showing the water quality at 1,854 beaches in France.
The map comes from environmental association Eau et Rivières de Bretagne (ERB), which recently published a study showing that one in five beaches in France was regularly polluted with bacteria.
The interactive map, which shows beaches on the Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines, as well as Corsica, is available to view and search at LaBellePlage.fr.
The website lets you select the beaches you wish to see by water quality, according to a colour-coded legend.
Yet, while the ERB said that 5% of beaches should “be avoided”, it added that more than 80% of beaches in France present “no risk” to bathers.
Some of the beaches to avoid may be in - or close to - popular tourist destinations, however. On Sunday, July 21, beaches in Biarritz, Bidart, and Saint-Jean-de-Luz were closed due to high levels of bacterial pollution.
“The risks are of a health and bacteriological nature,” said Maëlle Turriès, who is in charge of sea and coastline issues for the association, speaking to RMC.
Risks to swimmers include ear infections and gastro-enteritis, she said.
It has been compulsory to monitor the quality of bathing water in France since 1976. The ERB and regional health agency took their own samples on several occasions when the beaches were at their busiest with swimmers and bathers.
“The main aim was to monitor microbiological quality for the two regulated bacterial indicators: Escherichia coli and intestinal enterococci,” said the Agence Régionale de Santé de Bretagne on its website.
You can now consult a list of places to avoid or target as an environmental watchdog has published a map showing the water quality at 1,854 beaches in France.
The map comes from environmental association Eau et Rivières de Bretagne (ERB), which recently published a study showing that one in five beaches in France was regularly polluted with bacteria.
The interactive map, which shows beaches on the Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines, as well as Corsica, is available to view and search at LaBellePlage.fr.
The website lets you select the beaches you wish to see by water quality, according to a colour-coded legend.
Yet, while the ERB said that 5% of beaches should “be avoided”, it added that more than 80% of beaches in France present “no risk” to bathers.
Some of the beaches to avoid may be in - or close to - popular tourist destinations, however. On Sunday, July 21, beaches in Biarritz, Bidart, and Saint-Jean-de-Luz were closed due to high levels of bacterial pollution.
“The risks are of a health and bacteriological nature,” said Maëlle Turriès, who is in charge of sea and coastline issues for the association, speaking to RMC.
Risks to swimmers include ear infections and gastro-enteritis, she said.
It has been compulsory to monitor the quality of bathing water in France since 1976. The ERB and regional health agency took their own samples on several occasions when the beaches were at their busiest with swimmers and bathers.
“The main aim was to monitor microbiological quality for the two regulated bacterial indicators: Escherichia coli and intestinal enterococci,” said the Agence Régionale de Santé de Bretagne on its website.