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Athletes at Rio 2016 Olympics to compete in 'basically raw sewage', study reveals


Mr. Ambien

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Analysis of Rio waters reveals dangerous contamination levels

Marine biologist: ‘What you have there is basically raw sewage’

None of three Olympic water venues tested were deemed safe

Athletes in next year’s Summer Olympics will be swimming and boating in waters so contaminated with human feces that they risk becoming violently ill and unable to compete in the games, an Associated Press investigation has found.

An AP analysis of water quality revealed dangerously high levels of viruses and bacteria from human sewage in Olympic and Paralympic venues – results that alarmed international experts and dismayed competitors training in Rio, some of whom have already fallen ill with fevers, vomiting and diarrhea.

It is the first independent comprehensive testing for both viruses and bacteria at the Olympic sites.

Brazilian officials have insisted that the water will be safe for the Olympic athletes and the medical director of the International Olympic Committee said all was on track for providing safe competing venues. But neither the government nor the IOC tests for viruses, relying on bacteria testing only.

Extreme water pollution is common in Brazil, where the majority of sewage is not treated. Raw waste runs through open-air ditches to streams and rivers that feed the Olympic water sites.

As a result, Olympic athletes are almost certain to come into contact with disease-causing viruses that in some tests measured up to 1.7m times the level of what would be considered hazardous on a Southern California beach.

Despite decades of official pledges to clean up the mess, the stench of raw sewage still greets travelers touching down at Rio’s international airport. Prime beaches are deserted because the surf is thick with putrid sludge, and periodic die-offs leave the Olympic lake, Rodrigo de Freitas, littered with rotting fish.

“What you have there is basically raw sewage,” said John Griffith, a marine biologist at the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project. Griffith examined the protocols, methodology and results of the AP tests.

“It’s all the water from the toilets and the showers and whatever people put down their sinks, all mixed up, and it’s going out into the beach waters. Those kinds of things would be shut down immediately if found here,” he said, referring to the US.

Vera Oliveira, head of water monitoring for Rio’s municipal environmental secretariat, said officials are not testing viral levels at the Olympic lake, the water quality of which is the city’s responsibility.

The other Olympic water venues are under the control of the Rio state environmental agency.

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(^ Diego Nazario, back, and Emanuel Dantas Borges, train in the Rodrigo de Freitas Lake, surrounded by dead small silvery fish. Photograph: Felipe Dana/AP )

Leonardo Daemon, coordinator of water quality monitoring for the state’s environmental agency, said officials are strictly following Brazilian regulations on water quality, which are all based on bacteria levels, as are those of almost all nations.

“What would be the standard that should be followed for the quantity of virus? Because the presence or absence of virus in the water ... needs to have a standard, a limit,” he said. “You don’t have a standard for the quantity of virus in relation to human health when it comes to contact with water.”

Olympic hopefuls will be diving into Copacabana’s surf this Sunday during a triathlon Olympic qualifier event, while rowers take to the lake’s water beginning Wednesday for the 2015 World Rowing Junior Championships. Test events for sailing and marathon swimming take place later in August.

More than 10,000 athletes from 205 nations are expected to compete in next year’s Olympics. Nearly 1,400 of them will be sailing in the waters near Marina da Gloria in Guanabara Bay, swimming off Copacabana beach, and canoeing and rowing on the brackish waters of the Rodrigo de Freitas Lake.

The AP commissioned four rounds of testing in each of those three Olympic water venues, and also in the surf off Ipanema Beach, which is popular with tourists but where no events will be held. Thirty-seven samples were checked for three types of human adenovirus, as well as rotavirus, enterovirus and fecal coliforms.

The AP viral testing, which will continue in the coming year, found not one water venue safe for swimming or boating, according to global water experts.

Instead, the test results found high counts of active and infectious human adenoviruses, which multiply in the intestinal and respiratory tracts of people. These are viruses that are known to cause respiratory and digestive illnesses, including explosive diarrhea and vomiting, but can also lead to more serious heart, brain and other diseases.

The concentrations of the viruses in all tests were roughly equivalent to that seen in raw sewage – even at one of the least-polluted areas tested, the Copacabana Beach, where marathon and triathlon swimming will take place and where many of the expected 350,000 foreign tourists may take a dip.

“Everybody runs the risk of infection in these polluted waters,” said Dr. Carlos Terra, a hepatologist and head of a Rio-based association of doctors specializing in the research and treatment of liver diseases.

Kristina Mena, a US expert in risk assessment for waterborne viruses, examined the AP data and estimated that international athletes at all water venues would have a 99% chance of infection if they ingested just three teaspoons of water – though whether a person will fall ill depends on immunity and other factors.

Besides swimmers, athletes in sailing, canoeing and to a lesser degree rowing often get drenched when competing, and breathe in mist as well. Viruses can enter the body through the mouth, eyes, any orifice, or even a small cut.

The Rodrigo de Freitas Lake, which was largely cleaned up in recent years, was thought be safe for rowers and canoers. Yet AP tests found its waters to be among the most polluted for Olympic sites, with results ranging from 14m adenoviruses per liter on the low end to 1.7bn per liter at the high end.

By comparison, water quality experts who monitor beaches in Southern California become alarmed if they see viral counts reaching 1,000 per liter.

“If I were going to be in the Olympics,” said Griffith, the California water expert, “I would probably go early and get exposed and build up my immunity system to these viruses before I had to compete, because I don’t see how they’re going to solve this sewage problem.”

http://www.foxnews.com/..study-reveals

How is it this country was awarded both the World Cup and Olympics? :/

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90% os the Brazilian people (including me) are asking the same thing...

we suppose is the famous "bribe"...

And to think if the money that was surely going to bribes could only be used to provide proper sanitation, maybe that alone would have increased the validity of their bid.

But Ambien, do you have any sources other than Fox News? I mean, 3 threads today, 2 on the 29th all with Fox News as the source material - and I'm sure more going further back. Not that I don't trust Fox as a news source (actually, I kinda don't) to report these kinds of stories objectively but you really can't be only looking at Fox as a daily reader, or worse, as a singular source for threads you can post on CDC.

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And to think if the money that was surely going to bribes could only be used to provide proper sanitation, maybe that alone would have increased the validity of their bid.

But Ambien, do you have any sources other than Fox News? I mean, 3 threads today, 2 on the 29th all with Fox News as the source material - and I'm sure more going further back. Not that I don't trust Fox as a news source (actually, I kinda don't) to report these kinds of stories objectively but you really can't be only looking at Fox as a daily reader, or worse, as a singular source for threads you can post on CDC.

I'm guessing he started doing it to purposefully antagonize CDC after being referred to as 'Fox News' by some earlier.

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A quick Google search shows multiple credible sources for this story. This also isn't the first time this topic has been brought up. Just wait until the 2022 winter Olympics in Beijing. Rio will look spotless in comparison.

The speedskaters will be in feces invested waters there

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This doesnt even make sense to me, how could this be a realistic venue?

They're really going through with this aren't they. Its like Las Vegas being awarded an NHL team, we all know its a terrible idea, but in this world the pig headed all too often call the shots. If so, lawsuits I would imagine.

Unless a miracle happens, for example that Jesus statue animates and purifies everything.

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This doesnt even make sense to me, how could this be a realistic venue?

They're really going through with this aren't they. Its like Las Vegas being awarded an NHL team, we all know its a terrible idea, but in this world the pig headed all too often call the shots. If so, lawsuits I would imagine.

Unless a miracle happens, for example that Jesus statue animates and purifies everything.

Las Vegas isn't a terrible idea.

I felt embarrassed for Canada when the torch malfunctioned during the open ceremonies, and the fact we had no snow.

Can't imagine how Brazillians feel when it's global news that their country is filthy.

Then again I wouldn't swim in the Fraser River but people still go boating there all the time.

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Las Vegas isn't a terrible idea.

I felt embarrassed for Canada when the torch malfunctioned during the open ceremonies, and the fact we had no snow.

Can't imagine how Brazillians feel when it's global news that their country is filthy.

Then again I wouldn't swim in the Fraser River but people still go boating there all the time.

Let em give you guys the real picture over here:

most of the people here think these things...

1) Glad I don´t live in Rio de Janeiro, that city is more violent than any other city in Iraq under ISIS control. why the hell I would go there? I don´t want be murdered by a drug dealer!

2) there are 3 good places in Rio de Janeiro that you should know. the 2 airports (Galeão and Santos Dumont) and the Inter-State bus station. why? because just in case you should know it...

3) big news! the governor of the state (also called "Rio de Janeiro") and the mayor of the city are both idiots stealing people´s money. they deserve it...

4) with the stupid national government we have here ruled by a bunch of commies trying to transform Brazil into a new Cuba/Venezuela we want this olympic sucks in every single level. maybe after this these commies can be expeled from here!

5) and people in USA complain about LA...

6) wierd accent, think Rio is the only city that matter in Brazil. Cariocas should f#$¨#$¨themselfes...

7) "Wonderfull city" my ass. violence, robery, drug traffic, idiot people. drop a nuclear bomb there!

8) with so many good cities in Brazil they choose the most violent one. IOC is totally stupid...

and the list goes on...

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Let em give you guys the real picture over here:

most of the people here think these things...

1) Glad I don´t live in Rio de Janeiro, that city is more violent than any other city in Iraq under ISIS control. why the hell I would go there? I don´t want be murdered by a drug dealer!

2) there are 3 good places in Rio de Janeiro that you should know. the 2 airports (Galeão and Santos Dumont) and the Inter-State bus station. why? because just in case you should know it...

3) big news! the governor of the state (also called "Rio de Janeiro") and the mayor of the city are both idiots stealing people´s money. they deserve it...

4) with the stupid national government we have here ruled by a bunch of commies trying to transform Brazil into a new Cuba/Venezuela we want this olympic sucks in every single level. maybe after this these commies can be expeled from here!

5) and people in USA complain about LA...

6) wierd accent, think Rio is the only city that matter in Brazil. Cariocas should f#$¨#$¨themselfes...

7) "Wonderfull city" my ass. violence, robery, drug traffic, idiot people. drop a nuclear bomb there!

8) with so many good cities in Brazil they choose the most violent one. IOC is totally stupid...

and the list goes on...

It's so sad, I have a number of Brazilian friends I've chatted with since they messaged me randomly on ICQ some 10-15 years ago. None of them are mothers and they're way too afraid of raising any kids in Brazil's current political climate. They live in Sao Paulo and Franca.

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It's so sad, I have a number of Brazilian friends I've chatted with since they messaged me randomly on ICQ some 10-15 years ago. None of them are mothers and they're way too afraid of raising any kids in Brazil's current political climate. They live in Sao Paulo and Franca.

São Paulo is a 14 million city and basically is a real version of the Star War´s Coruscant. poluted, caotic, violent. it´s the Brazilian New York but way more poluted. still is the city where you find everything. takes 2 hours to drive from any point to the center but...

Franca? I think is a nice country city. small, close to Ribeirão Preto (medium city). a nice city to raise a kid. BUT since it´s close to São Paulo the risk of violence still exist.

I´m not a father but I see how things are going here...

about the bold part. dude...

we´re about to have a revolution, a military intervention or a civil war here...

because the "government" is caotic, the political system is getting destroyed day-by-day, the population is getting angry/frustrated, the money being stealed by corrupt politics, our law system is flawed, the economy is getting cripled due to the excess of subsidies from the government to the unproductive areas instead put money on areas that give progress to the country.

people are not sure even if the current president will finish this year in power. because it looks like she will not...

when the bomb explode here Greece will look like Canada compared with what´s gonna happen here.

The problem isn´t the Brazilian people, it´s the Brazilian politics. they should be vanished from the face of the Earth...

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Las Vegas isn't a terrible idea.

Bollocks.

Invite most of the intended audience over via all expenses paid trips and then hope they piss away the difference on the slot machines?

This is not a respectable idea at all, its a complete joke even if it does work for a while. Based on recent expansion history this team probably wont get a crack at the post season for about a decade, as it takes aeons to build a competitive team now.

After several seasons the local support will likely evaporate. After the novelty wears off, what about fan support abroad? Well, why would a typical Californian be going to a hockey game with (at best) one competitive team involved, if they are not obligated to? It's Vegas.

This becomes worse as the seasons progress and it becomes obvious a number of teams have no realistic shot at the playoffs; this means you'll have the option of watching two basement dwellers in many cases. Every time Phoenix comes to town, a probable division rival, is there any reason for even one seat to be filled?

Half empty buildings are a joke whether the seats are paid for or not. The NHL will not be able to avoid looking stupid, sooner or later, for moving to Vegas.

The NHL has a terrible habit of sticking to their plan no matter how stupid, for example having all star teams in the world cup.

Once the stupid the NHL creates is put in motion, they will invariably get sucked into their own vortex of stupidity, being too stupid to guess how stupid their ideas really are. (Phoenix, Florida, Carolina, Atlanta) This is basically a proven fact.

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