VietNamNet Bridge – Recent test results showed that seawater at Da Nang City’s beaches is still safe, Le Quang Nam, director of the city’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment said on Wednesday, the online newspaper zing.vn reports.

The city’s director of environment assured the public that local beaches are safe. — Photo zing.vn

The statement came in response to the itchy rash which many people had experienced after swimming at the city’s beaches early this month.

Some types of starfish and jellyfish were also detected at beaches at that time as related agencies reported.

“These species can cause itchy rash,” Nam said.

Nam said that the city’s coastal water was monitored monthly at ten monitoring stations, including three at the public beaches of My Khe, Non Nuoc and Pham Van Dong.

All monitoring parameters such as pH, total suspended solids (TSS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), oil, ammoniac and coliforms met the standards.

After receiving people’s reports, the department sent seawater samples to Hue University of Sciences, Da Nang University of Science and Education, and Viet Nam Institute of Oceanography in Nha Trang City for analysis.  

According to the institute, recently, silicon algae has appeared at Da Nang City’s beaches. However, there is little scientific evidence showing that the algae can cause itchy rash and skin allergies.

Therefore, Nam assumed that starfish and jellyfish might be responsible for the skin trouble.

Source: VNS