Danger at the beach: Rubbish causing broken bones, infected cuts and even blindness

"Dirty beaches" pose increasing injury risks. Photo / File

Forget shark attacks - researchers are warning rubbish is becoming a "growing hazard" at New Zealand's beaches, causing broken bones, infected cuts and, in some cases, blindness.

A new study has revealed that the number of people injured from beach litter was increasing by about 5 per cent each year.

Much higher than the number of overall beach-related injuries, which were rising by 1.8 per cent per year.

The University of Waikato research collected all ACC beach-related injury claims over 10 years between 2007 and 2016 to examine the threat rubbish at beaches posed on people's health.

"This study lays the groundwork to understand the true costs of beach litter and impacts to human health in New Zealand," head researcher Marine Campbell said in the report.

Loss of balance, punctures, tripping, twisting movement and being knocked over by an object were flagged as the top five causes for litter-related injuries at New Zealand beaches.

The most common injuries were infected wounds, soft tissue strains, damage to the eye and fractures or dislocations.

Half of the new litter-related injury claims came from people aged between 20 to 65 years, with 42 per cent from children under 19 years old.

Children under 14 made up 30 per cent injures from rubbish at the beach which researchers said signified a high risk of exposure to this "vulnerable element of society".

"Young children exhibit naïve behaviours when interacting in the environment, and in similar vein to animal interactions with litter, young children would mistakenly ingest items, be attracted to colour, and not read warning labels, leading to exposure."

The average cost of these claims were $450.

The report also found that over the 10-year period the total number of beach injury claims to ACC resulted to 161,261 with nearly 8000 new injuries claimed each year.

Researchers said tourist hotspots such as Bay of Plenty, Northland and Gisborne had a higher number of claims compared with the rest of the country.

"This may have been due to injuries sustained by international tourists, or by domestic
visitation to "high-value" beaches," the report said.

The report concluded saying marine debris and beach litter was causing a pervasive hazard to personal injury at beaches.

"The extent to which these risks are manifest across the continuum of clean to "dirty" beaches remains to be seen but is likely to significantly influence risk perception."