As the Olympic Games are set to get underway in Rio de Janeiro, the host country is experiencing a couple of “minor glitches.” Already reports have come in of gas leaks in athlete rooms (rooms which the Australians have labeled “uninhabitable”), athletes being robbed, a collapse of the main boat ramp intended for use in sailing competitions and a minor problem with water quality which an AP study found to be “contaminated with raw human sewage teeming with dangerous viruses and bacteria.”
On the water issue, The Associated Press commissioned a 16-month study on the waterways of Rio which revealed consistent and dangerously high levels of viruses from pollution and untreated human sewage. In fact, the AP’s tests revealed that Copacabana Beach, where the marathon and triathlon swimming are to be held and thousands of tourists are likely to take a dip, exceeded California’s limit for fecal coliforms (aka poop) by 5x over 13 months of testing. In addition, tests found that infectious adenovirus readings turned up at nearly 90 percent of the test sites over 16 months of testing. Dr. Valerie Harwood, Chair of the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of South Florida, reflected on the test results – READ MORE
