Welcome to the POO-LYMPICS: Raw SEWAGE pours into Rio's Guanabara Bay as athletes are warned to shower straight after leaving the water and paramedics wait on the shore to treat cuts
- Pictures of raw sewage is shown pouring into Guanabara Bay in Rio increasing health risk for competitors
- Swimmers and athletes who swallow just three teaspoons of water are almost certain to be infected with viruses
- Medical staff on standby to treat any cuts as marathon swimmers will 'literally be swimming in human crap'
- 'Potentially serious health risks' in Guanabara Bay where the site of windsurfing and sailing events take place
Pollution problems at the Rio Olympics have now got so bad that officials moving sailing or rowing boats are using gloves, medical staff are on standby to treat infectious cuts and athletes must shower immediately after leaving the water.
Sewage continues to pour into Guanabara Bay in Rio which will host the triathlon, sailing and marathon swimming events at the Games, The Australian reports.
But despite new measures taken by the teams, a 16-month testing program showed 1400 athletes 'face potentially serious health risks' - as do any Olympic tourists who choose to swim at Copacabana Beach.
Cars drive by sewage flowing from the suburb of Sao Goncalo into Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The tests that took place in June showed that the Olympic rowing lagoon still had a dangerously high 248 million per litre billion of adenoviruses - these are a group of viruses that can cause infections of the lung, stomach and intestine - per litre in it.
It was found that these infectious adenovirus readings turned up at nearly 90 per cent of the test sites over 16 months of testing.
The levels are so toxic that swimmers and athletes who swallow just three teaspoons of water are almost certain to be infected with viruses that can cause stomach and respiratory illnesses.
'That's a very, very, very high percentage,' said Valerie Harwood, chairwoman of the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of South Florida.
Waste litters the water as two sailors prepare for a training session at Rio de Janeiro's Guanabara Bay
A man happily washes himself in the polluted waters of Guanabara Bay in Rio despite the rubbish floating around him
Children try to catch a crab as they play on the polluted shore of Guanabara Bay in Rio
Rundown houses stand next to the heavily polluted shore of Guanabara Bay which is filled with tyres and waste
A doll's head splashes among the trash and untreated sewerage in the waters of Guanabara Bay
A dirty and ragged orange sofa sits on the shore of Guanabara Bay in middle of washed up debris
An old battered couch rests among pollution along the edge of Guanabara Bay as the sun sets
'Seeing that level of human pathogenic virus is pretty much unheard of in surface waters in the US. You would never, ever see these levels because we treat our waste water.'
Because of this organisers have contingency plans in place in case the pollution takes its toll.
'We have contingency plans B, C, D, E, F and G,' most of them based on changing any of the seven race courses for the Games in the case of adverse wind, rain and tide that may quickly change pollution levels,' International Federation of World Sailing executive director Andy Hunt said:
Australian rowing manager Ray Ebert confirmed that environmental reports were being issued every 48 hours to monitor water quality.
'The rowers have to deliberately stop and take care when they are eating or drinking on the water,' he said.
Rio oceanographer David Zee told the ABC that water along the shoreline of the Marina da Gloria, the venue for Olympic sailing events, was poor.
The colour of the foam hitting the shore was yellow or bronze which meant it 'was not in good condition', Mr Zee concluded.
'Right now I can only give five or four-and-a-half (out of 10),' he said. 'I'm amazed because it should be better.'
To make matters worse Dr Zee said 51 per cent of the sewage that flows into the bay still remains untreated with 55 rivers, most of which that run through urban areas, flowing into the bay.
'A lack of sewage services, a lack of garbage collecting all this comes to Guanabara Bay,' Dr Zee said.
But it is not just the water that is the problem. Copacabana and Ipanema beaches also revealed high levels of viruses, which may prove a health risk especially to babies and small children.
A body floats in the waters of Guanabara Bay, a sailing venue for the 2016 Olympics, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
A carpet of trash lines the shore of Guanabara Bay in Rio as health fears for the athletes increase
A severed arm was just another gruesome discovery made in Rio's waterways in the build up to the Olympics
Testing at several of the city's world-famous beaches have shown high levels of bacteria relating to sewage pollution, and tourists have been warned to be careful.
The World Health Organisation did give the Olympic water venues in Guanabara Bay the green light after they had tested them for 60 days and said they were safe on the basis of bacterial testing, but not for viruses.
Last week competitors taking part in some of the aquatic events at the Games were warned not to open their mouths to avoid catching serious illnesses from the polluted water.
Health experts warned Olympic marathon swimmers, sailors and windsurfers competing in Rio's Guanabara Bay - where a body was found floating in the lead up to the Games - to be ultra careful as the waters are much more contaminated than was previously thought, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
It has been claimed that organisers' efforts to treat the raw sewage and clean up household debris in Guanabara Bay has fallen well short despite recent efforts to clean the area up.
Marina da Glória in Guanabara Bay is the site of the windsurfing and sailing events, while the marathon swimming and triathlon competitions are at Copacabana Beach at the mouth of the bay.
Environmentalists and scientists have voiced their concerns about Guanabara Bay and Copacabana Beach saying that they are much more contaminated than previously thought.
Swimmers will 'literally be swimming in human crap' Dr. Daniel Becker said of the possible conditions
Spanish women's sailing team coach Nigel Cochrane described conditions at Guanabara Bay as 'disgusting'
A variety of rubbish and debris had washed up on the shore around Guanabara Bay as the countdown to the start of the Games went on
'We just have to keep our mouths closed when the water sprays up,' Dutch sailing team member Afrodite Zegers said.
One Brazilian doctor even warned that Olympic marathon swimmers will 'literally be swimming in human crap'.
'Foreign athletes will literally be swimming in human crap, and they risk getting sick from all those microorganisms,' said Dr. Daniel Becker who works in Rio.
Spanish women's sailing team coach Nigel Cochrane described it as 'disgusting' and that they were 'very concerned' about it all despite reassurances from Olympic authorities.
Marina da Glória in Guanabara Bay will host the windsurfing and sailing events, while the marathon swimming event will take place at nearby Copacabana Beach