COLUMBIA, S.C. — Summer vacation season is in full swing, and as families head to the beach, you may have heard the old advice that if you get a cut walking on a shell, or maybe have a blister, go rinse it in the ocean. The salt water will clean the wound, the belief goes.
THE QUESTION
So does the ocean water help to heal cuts and scrapes?
THE SOURCES
Our sources are Dr. Allison Harvey, an emergency medicine specialist with Prisma Health. We also spoke to Bryan Rabon, the manager of the aquatic sciences program at with the Bureau of Water, which is part of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. (SCDHEC)
THE ANSWER
False, ocean water is not a good disinfectant.
WHAT WE FOUND
Let's start with the water.
During peak summer months, scientists from DHEC study bacteria levels in the water off South Carolina's coastline.
"One of our staff members goes out to our station and they go about knee deep where kids could be playing," says Rabon. "They collect the sample and the lab runs it.
Per Environmental Protection Agency guidelines, if the sample comes back more than 104 colonies per 100 milliliters of water, DHEC issues a short term advisory.
"So we continue sampling on the short term advisories, we sample every day and continue to sample until those advisories fall below 104," Rabon adds.
Dr. Harvey says one bacteria in the water called vibrio can send people to the ER.
"The most concerning one is vibrio, that's the one you've heard of if you eat oysters, but you can also get it from the sea water," Harvey says.
And Dr. Harvey says the easiest way for vibrio bacteria to enter your body is if you swallow it or if you have an open cut.
"They are very common contaminants particularly in summer and in warmer waters. so even a healthy person can get vibrio from the ocean especially if they get ocean water in it," she adds.
So why all the confusion about salt water helping a wound?
"It depends of if the salt water is sterile or in the ocean," Harvey says. "We use sterile salt water in the ocean all the time."
So we can verify, while sterile saline water is good for cleaning a cut, the ocean water is not.
But Harvey says not to let that ruin your trip to the beach If you do have an open cut, make sure it's fully covered.