Paris' Seine River tests for E. coli 10 times above acceptable limit a month out from 2024 Summer Olympics
CBSN
The world is officially a month from the start of the 2024 Summer Olympics — and new tests just revealed that one of the Games' focal points for events, the Seine River in Paris, isn't ready. For the third consecutive week, samples from the Seine River show that the waterway, which is planned for some Olympic swimming events, has unsafe levels of bacteria linked to fecal matter.
The latest tests from the Eau de Paris monitoring group, taken between June 17 and June 23, show E. coli bacteria, which is often linked to fecal matter and can cause diarrhea, urinary tract infections, pneumonia and sepsis, was 10 times above the acceptable levels, according to AFP, based on results released by the Paris mayor's office. At no point have levels fallen below the upper limits, AFP said.
Enterococci bacteria have also been detected in the river water for weeks, and while levels were better in the latest test, they were still unsafe.