IN SOME PLACES around the world, just dangling your hand in a river is a good way to catch a horrific disease. But how likely are you to get sick if you ply Chicago-area waters?
A good jump on answering that question was provided recently at the Chicago River Flatwater Classic, when 230 of the 574 canoers and kayakers in the 8th annual race agreed to join a new study of the issue by the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health in conjunction with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) and the federal and state environmental protection agencies.
The racers, who paddled from Clark Park, 4800 N. Rockwell St., to Chinatown, filled out a questionnaire and agreed to a follow-up in three weeks to see if they have developed stomach ailments, skin rashes or ear infections.
Ultimately the study, called the Chicago Health Environmental Exposure and Recreation Study, will enroll 9,000 people who boat the river, swim or boat on Lake Michigan or do none of these. The idea: compare rates of illness among river users to that of lake users or those who have no contact with either.
It all stems from a civic tiff over whether or not to disinfect the river, whose water contains treated sewage full of bacteria. Mayor Daley and environmentalists want it done; the MWRD says it’s expensive and shouldn’t be done unless boaters are getting sick.
Both the lead investigator, Dr. Samuel Dorevitch, and Margaret Frisbee, executive director of Friends of the Chicago River, were buoyed by the 40 percent volunteer rate at the race. “People I spoke to were happy to contribute because they cherish the Chicago River,” said Frisbee. “The study is the most important thing happening to the river in 20 years.” Frisbee recently said the river “isn’t clean enough for human contact.”
