Keeping Beachgoers Safe

Spring Break is right around the corner, and that means many of us will enjoy a few days away from the cold, lying on the beach in the sun, sipping a frozen drink topped with fruit and an umbrella.

The only thing that could possibly ruin this ideal vacation would be ending up stuck in your hotel room, nursing a bad stomach illness.

It's happened to all of us at one time or another… and we usually blame it on something we ate. But according to a new study just published in Epidemiology, that stomach ache may actually have been caused by the sand you were just laying on.

The study found E. coli bacteria and concentrations of sewage on several beaches they studied, and flow-up studies on beaches across the country resulted in the same findings.

After interviewing nearly 5,000 beachgoers, they found that people digging in the sand were more likely to suffer from gastrointestinal distress one day after going to the beach, than those people who kept their hands out of the sand.

Does that mean you shouldn't dig in the sand when you're at the beach? Not at all. You can still build those epic sandcastles… just make sure to wash your hands right after you put the final flag in the tallest turret.

And while rinsing may help to reduce the risk of developing an illness, the best way, according to the researchers, is a good scrubbing with soap and clean water.

Can't find a restroom on the beach? Look for a portable restroom trailer. Our portable restroom trailers are stationed at many beaches across the country, and most feature hot water, which is even more effective at killing those illness-causing bacteria. Meaning you can spend more time on the beach, and less time in the hotel room, chugging Pepto.