site.btaBulgarian Consumer Rights Watchdog, Health Ministry Inspect Beaches along Black Sea Coast

The Active Consumers Association and the Ministry of Health started Monday a joint inspection of the quality of the sea water at the Popski Beach in the town of Tsarevo, on the Black sea. The results are expected on Wednesday at the latest.

Earlier in August, Active Consumers and the Ministry of Health entered into a dispute about the quality of water on some Bulgarian beaches. The non-governmental organization, together with researchers from Sofia University, disseminated the results of their research, according to which the content of Escherichia coli (E. coli) in the water of this beach is more than 40 times above the norm. The data showed that there is pollution on a number of beaches along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. The Ministry of Health rejected these conclusions as manipulative and not meeting the standards for such research.

Dr. Pavel Harizanov from the Regional Health Inspectorate (RHI) in Burgas said that immediately after the alert issued by Active Consumers, the RHI took samples of the sea water, which showed a normal sea water environment for bathing.

On Monday, Active Consumers and the Ministry of Health once again clashed over which tests are inappropriate.

Biologist Dr. Sergey Ivanov, from the Active Consumers Association, stated that "large laboratories, complex equipment and a whole team of academics are not needed" for such research. He explained that worldwide, determining the presence of E. coli in seawater is done in a simplified way, with a field sanitary test. The water in the test tubes turns blue-green in the presence of the bacteria, Ivanov pointed out and added that the research is completely reliable.

However, Dr. Harizanov argued that field microbiology does not give reliable results.

Along with the beach in Tsarevo, joint samples were also taken from the sea water near Lozenets.