While everyone suspects that bathing in chemically contaminated waters is dangerous, no one really knows the levels of marine pollution.
"On the bacteriological side, we have a lot of data and health information, but on the chemical side, we have absolutely nothing," confirms Marc Valmassoni, campaign coordinator at Surfrider.
Surfers equipped with chemical pollution sensors
His organization and Ifremer, both fighting for the protection and exploitation of French waters and their environment, have therefore decided to assess these pollution rates.
In 2020, the project was launched: they provided surfers with puttees on which sensors were integrated.
"The idea is to immerse them for a hundred hours over a season and, at the end of the year, to analyze all that to see if there are pollutants", specifies Marc Valmassoni.
OUR “POLLUTION” FILE
Among the surfers taking part in the operation is Pauline Ado, world surfing champion.
She decided to wear this device on each of her dives.
“I want to know if there is a danger to our health, if it has an impact on the practice”, she underlines.
For Farida Akcha, marine ecotoxicology researcher at Ifremer, this analysis is essential because “everyone needs to be aware of this chemical risk”.
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