Tijuana River sewage may be contaminating air along Southern California coast: study
Chronic coastal contamination from the Tijuana River can end up in the atmosphere as “sea spray aerosol” — spreading far beyond the San Diego County beaches where it has long polluted the water, a new study has found. For decades, storms occurring along the U.S.-Mexico border have been diverting sewage through the Tijuana River and into the ocean in south Imperial Beach, according to a study published on Thursday in Environmental Science & Technology. But researchers have now determined that sewage-polluted coastal waters can transfer to the atmosphere as aerosol — generated “by breaking waves and bursting bubbles.” And while the level of threat to human health remains uncertain, this so-called “sea spray aerosol” contains bacteria, viruses and chemical compounds.