Water quality
and health
In 2025, Surfrider Foundation Europe stepped up its commitment to water quality and the health of water users, in the face of increasingly diverse and worrying threats.
From beaches in Brittany affected by widespread bacterial pollution to the South Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts overrun by toxic microalgae, the organisation has stepped up its efforts on multiple fronts — on the ground, in laboratories and with decision-makers — with an unwavering conviction: the right to enjoy healthy surface waters is a fundamental right that must be defended at all costs.
Chemical contaminants and PFAS:
developing new expertise
In response to new forms of pollution and growing concerns within its community, Surfrider Foundation Europe began developing in-depth expertise in the field of chemical contaminants in 2025.
The chemical status of surface water bodies and coastal waters is deteriorating at an alarming rate, and the prospects of achieving good ecological status by 2027 appear increasingly unrealistic given the current climate and regulatory context.
In this context, significant organisational work has been carried out: a comparative analysis of stakeholders and networks working on chemical pollutants, mapping of current and future regulations, prioritisation of substances with a high environmental impact, and an inventory of existing technologies. This work will inform an internal roadmap, currently being developed.
In parallel, a national monitoring and sampling campaign was carried out in June 2025, in operational partnership with Eurofins laboratories, to map the presence of PFAS in bathing areas and coastal recreational spaces. Mobilising 80 volunteers, this campaign enabled the analysis of 108 sites and the collection of over 6,000 data points relating to PFAS.
Bathing Water Directive: campaign against the scrapping of the review
It was with great disappointment, though not really to its surprise, that Surfrider Foundation Europe learnt in early summer 2025 that the European Commission had no plans to revise the Bathing Water Directive — a decision made all the more frustrating by the fact that this project, on which Surfrider had been working for several years, had already been postponed once.
Faced with this situation, the organisation quickly adapted its action strategy.
A targeted public campaign was launched via the Chilli platform, calling on the European Commission to reopen the case. The Surfrider community mobilised through coordinated comments and emails sent directly to Commissioner Jessika Roswall.
The campaign also resonated with environmental content creators, including Gaëtan Gabrièle, helping to amplify its reach. With over 271,000 impressions generated, this campaign demonstrated the strength of the Surfrider community’s commitment and the depth of public concern regarding these issues, both in France and across Europe.
At the same time, Surfrider has stepped up its awareness-raising efforts by co-producing a documentary, IMPACT 7 – Between the Tides, made in collaboration with professional surfer Miguel Blanco. Grounded in a fact-based approach — including water samples, laboratory analyses and public testimonies — this film highlights the concrete challenges posed by pollution in bathing waters in Ericeira, Portugal. It is scheduled for release in 2026, through public screenings as well as on YouTube and Instagram.
Ostreopsis: monitoring of the toxic microalgae along the French coast
During the summer of 2025, Surfrider Foundation Europe carried out several sampling campaigns along the coasts of the Basque Country, Landes and the Mediterranean — totalling 125 samples — in collaboration with health agencies, local authorities and marine parks.
The analyses revealed the presence of the toxic microalgae Ostreopsis in 30% of the samples and identified three high-risk sites along the Basque coast.
A follow-up analysis conducted in October 2025 in the same area provided a deeper understanding of the dynamics of the blooms, the environmental conditions favouring their development, and the potential associated health risks.
Alongside this fieldwork, a communication campaign was launched, as it is every year, to inform the general public about the causes and consequences of the presence of this algae.
The reporting form set up on the Surfrider Foundation Europe website in 2024 has this year collected more than 120 reports from people describing symptoms consistent with exposure to Ostreopsis, confirming the usefulness of this participatory tool in supplementing scientific field data.
Bacterial contamination in Landunvez: Surfrider keeps up the pressure
Since 2023, Surfrider Foundation Europe has been monitoring persistent bacterial pollution of agricultural origin on Penfoul beach and several surrounding sites in the municipality of Landunvez, in Finistère.
In 2024, this campaign led to the adoption of a prefectural decree classifying the area as a ‘zone with health concerns’ and introducing a set of measures designed to tackle the various sources of pollution, particularly at Penfoul, as part of a three-year plan.
2025 marked the first year of implementation of this plan.
The results so far have been very mixed: Penfoul beach has been downgraded, with its bathing water quality dropping from “good” to “poor” — a standard that fails to meet the requirements of the European Bathing Water Directive.
Faced with this worrying situation, Surfrider has once again sounded the alarm to increase pressure on local authorities and compel them to speed up the effective implementation of the planned measures.
As part of this, two studies were launched in collaboration with doctors in Finistère, aimed at assessing the number of patients presenting symptoms likely linked to their swimming habits and the poor water quality.
The aim was twofold: to document the situation in Landunvez in detail and to carry out a broader assessment at departmental level, in order to gather evidence to strengthen dialogue with decision-makers.
This work, which received coverage in the regional media following the release of two press releases, enabled the local Finistère group to secure a meeting with the Regional Health Agency — a significant step forward in this process.
In 2026, Surfrider will continue its collaboration with local doctors and maintain its vigilance and pressure on the authorities, whilst awaiting the results of the next season of measurements.
The objective remains unchanged: that the ARS takes full ownership of the issue and that the quality of bathing waters is sustainably restored along this stretch of the Finistère coastline.