According to the association, one in five beaches is regularly contaminated with bacteria.

One in five French beaches are regularly contaminated with bacteria, and 5% of them “should be avoided,” according to a study published Friday by the Eau et Rivières de Bretagne (ERB) association.

In total, according to the classification of the Breton Association published on the website labelleplage.fr, out of 1854 beaches in France and Corsica, 93 beaches (5.02%) are “to be avoided” and 316 are “not recommended” (17.04%). . Conversely, swimming is “recommended” at 690 beaches (37.2%) and “low risk” at 755 (40.7%).

Atlantic coast is the best classified

The worst rated beaches are in the Alpes-Maritimes, in the north, in Pas de Calais, Calvados and on the northern coast of Brittany. Beaches at Landenveze (Finistère), Boulogne-sur-Mer (Pas-de-Calais) or Saint-Laurent-du-Var (Alpes-Maritimes) are at the bottom of the ranking.

The best in the ranking are located on the Atlantic coast, in Occitanie and Corsica, with the leading group being the beaches of Lege-Cap-Ferret (Gironde), Palavas-les-Flos (Herault) or Ethel (Morbihan).

The association developed this classification based on the results of an official analysis, from which it derived a new indicator that is more accurate than that published by the Ministry of Health (baignades.sante.gouv.fr).

Each beach is rated out of 100

“We tried to develop another rating with the same data. Because many beaches are classified as good or excellent, even though they are susceptible to pollution,” Christophe Le Visage, vice-president of Euroradio, explained to AFP. “With the concentrations of bacteria that we see on some beaches, there are risks for swimmers,” he says.

The association assigns each beach a score on a 100-point scale, assessing the health risk of each sample taken by authorities: if 10% of samples are classified as “average” or “poor”, the score is 90.

This classification therefore creates four categories of beaches where swimming is “recommended” (score equal to or above 95), “low risk” (85 to 95), “not recommended” (70 to 85) and “should be allowed.” avoided” (less than 70).

“We are investing millions in sewerage”

The association is calling for more information and monitoring of bathing water quality, as well as better oversight of livestock runoff.

“We are investing millions in sanitation, while many polluted beaches are located in areas where there are few tourists and little urbanization, such as Northern Brittany,” notes Christophe Le Visage, who estimates that sixty Breton beaches suffer from agricultural pollution. “From a bacterial point of view, one pig is equivalent to thirty people,” he emphasizes.