IMPERIAL BEACH, Calif. (KGTV)— News of the recently confirmed toxic particles found airborne in the South Bay is rippling throughout the community.
Last week, scientists tested and found high levels of hydrogen sulfide in the Southbay. This is what is causing the sewage odor, headaches, nausea, respiratory issues, and more.
One daycare and its toddlers in Imperial Beach are feeling the effects.
Wilson Family Daycare is about a three-minute drive from Imperial Beach.
Susan Wilson, the owner, has run her daycare in Imperial Beach for the last twenty years.
Wilson said that she stopped taking her daycare kids to the beach within the last three to four years.
"The water quality has gotten so bad that I can't take the kids to the beach," Wilson said. "The surfers knew who the [the kids] were. It was a really, huge bonding piece of the community.
It’s been more than one thousand days since the water in Imperial Beach was closed due to sewage contamination.
This month, researchers from UC San Diego discovered high levels of hydrogen sulfide, a toxin commonly found in sewage, in the Southbay.
Wilson questions if that discovery helps explain some of the health issues she recently saw in the kids at her daycare.
"I'm not a doctor, but I do feel like it stays with them longer. It's hard to get rid of a cough. It's hard to get rid of a stuffy nose."
ABC 10News spoke to Dr. Vi Ngyuen, a pediatrician at Kaiser Permanente, earlier this week.
Nguyen has been working in the South Bay for 15 years and said, "Something's happening in the community. The kids are more sick in the South Bay."
Nguyen said she’s seen a concerning number of children coming in with asthma.
“Definitely seen a lot of kids with asthma attacks. I'm putting kids on controllers in the area," Nguyen said.
Wilson said that instead of going to the beach, she's taking the kids to visit parks and libraries or play in the backyard because the kids still need to get out of the house.
"It's gotten way worse, and we're still paying taxes, we're still paying for sewer and trash, and it's not our sewer or our trash that we're living in," Wilson said.
Wilson hopes she and the kids will one day be able to walk back across the sand.
"The kids miss it too," Wilson said.
