Sargassum Invasions in Mexican Caribbean Coast (MCC): Public Perspective on Health, Tourism, and Environmental Challenges

International Journal of Social Science and Human Research ISSN (print): 2644-0679, ISSN (online): 2644-0695 Volume 08 Issue 10 October 2025 DOI: 10.47191/ijsshr/v8-i10-29, Impact factor8.007 Page No: 7789-7799 IJSSHR, Volume 08 Issue 10 October 2025 www.ijsshr.in Page 7789 Sargassum Invasions in Mexican Caribbean Coast (MCC): Public Perspective on Health, Tourism, and Environmental Challenges Norma P. Muñoz Sevilla1, Sakthi Selva Lakshmi Jeyakumar2†, Mariano Norzagaray Campos3, Tamar Zehla Jimenez Velaquez4, Nahid Perez Ayala5, Diana Cecilia Escobedo-Urias6 1,2,4Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo (CIIEMAD), Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN),Calle 30 de Junio de 1520, Barrio la Laguna Ticomán,Del. Gustavo A. Madero, C.P.07340, Ciudad de México, México 3,6Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigación para el Desarrollo Integral Regional (CIIDIR Sinaloa), Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN), Bulevar Juan de Dios Bátiz Paredes #250, Colonia San Joachin, C.P.81101, Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico. 5Universidad de Monterrey, Av. Ignacio Morones Prieto 4500-Pte, Zona Valle Poniente, 66238 San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo León, Mexico. ABSTRACT: Mass blooms and beaching of Sargassum spp. Since 2011 has deteriorated the Mexican Caribbean Coast quality beyond the limit. Despite several studies addressed the direct impact of Sargassum, the potential health risk from Sargassum in Mexican Caribbean Coast (MCC) remains scanty. To address the knowledge gap, the findings of this study highlight the significant socio-environmental impacts of Sargassum influxes on the Mexican Caribbean Coast based on the public perspectives using questionnaire survey. The results indicated that female respondents report higher sensitivity to Sargassumrelated impact markedly health effects such as respiratory discomforts and skin disorders. Additionally, a significant proportion of respondents observed changes in tourism and their significant economic losses. This study further explores the relationship between Sargassum beaching and its socio-environmental consequences, highlighting the gendered variation in perception. While economic impacts were highly recognized by male respondents, the environmental and health related concerns were more prevalent among female respondents. These findings emphasize the need for targeted mitigation strategies that include air quality monitoring, public health interventions and sustainable Sargassum management programs. Henceforth, addressing these challenges requires integrated approaches that consider both ecological and social interventions for implementing adaptive management policies to foster long term resilience on Sargassum impacts. KEYWORDS: Mexican Caribbean Coast (MCC); Sargassum; Survey; Health impact; Socio-environment. 1. INTRODUCTION Beaches are more than merely sand and water, they are a dynamic interface between land and sea, constantly sculpted by both human and natural influences. Amongst the global beaches, Mexican Caribbean Coast (MCC) is known for its pristine beaches with turquoise waters and white sands. However, natural, and anthropogenic factors are reshaping the coastline and impacting the coastal ecosystem (Macías Pérez, 2009; Fraga & Robledo, 2022). Since, the MCC is economically enriched regime for the development of Mexico’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is resulted from several different marine and coastal ecosystem. Among this a unique onset of calamity, has devasted the coastal and urban community, which is the massive arrival of Sargassum since 2011 (Smetacek and Zingone, 2013). Holo-pelagic Sargassum is a brown macroalgae which floats on the ocean surface which has two species: Sargassum natans and Sargassum fluitans (hereafter Sargassum) (Martin et al., 2021). These two species of Sargassum naturally occur in the Sargasso Sea located in the Atlantic Ocean (Fine, 1970), being habitat for fish, invertebrates, sea turtles and sea birds and it also serves as spawning and nursery areas for many organisms (Pendleton et al., 2014; Sissini et al., 2017). The global term “brown tides” has been coined for the massive beaching of Sargassum spp., owing to their brown-yellow color that resembles gold (Smetacek & Zingone, 2013) and their abrupt blooming was explained through several theories includes marine pollution, hydrocarbon spills, spiked concentration of nutrients resulted due to discharges from Amazon, Orinoco and Congo (Wang et al., 2019); sand dust from Sahara Desert (Chavez et al., 2020) and rising ocean temperatures resulted from climate changes alters the currents and wind patterns (U.C. Marx et al., 2021). Sargassum Invasions in Mexican Caribbean Coast (MCC): Public Perspective on Health, Tourism, and Environmental Challenges IJSSHR, Volume 08 Issue 10 October 2025 www.ijsshr.in Page 7790 Since 2011, some prior changes were noticed in the MCC, with an extensive beaching of Sargassum from the Caribbean Sea from the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt (Wang and Hu, 2018; Wang et al., 2019). Since then, throughout the Caribbean, the Sargassum has been classified as invasive and destructive marine algae given the ongoing challenges for the coastal communities and tourism (UNEP United Nations Environment Programme, 2018). During the beaching of Sargassum in 2015, this MCC coast was estimated with 10,000 wet tonnes, covering an average 9726 m3 of seaweed accumulated per month per km of coastline (RodriguezMartinez et al., 2016), whilst this coast faced inadequate resources for mitigation and elimination. The mass pile up of Sargassum on beaches is not a welcome sight or smell, which has been gradually increasing every year, just surpassing 24 million tonnes in June 2022 (USF, 2022). The lack of public awareness, scientific information and institutional guidance during the onset of Sargassum and limited resources for mitigation, cost of elimination also has significant impact on environment and economics (Barlett and Elmer, 2021; Milledge and Harvey, 2016). Despite the recent anthropogenic pressures enthralled in MCC, several extensive research have addressed the impact of Sargassum on the coastal ecosystems such as addition of organic matter, light diminution, anoxia and leaching (van Tussenbroek et al., 2017; Chavez et al., 2020); beach erosion (Silva et al., 2020); sediment texture alteration (Maurer, 2019); trophic status changes (Cabanillas – Teran et al., 2019). Although the latter has been fully assessed, Langin (2018) estimated that the beaches lost their unique exquisiteness due to this accumulation. However, along with the impact detailed to costal ecosystems, considering human health for the affected communities from the Sargassum have remained enigmatic in recent years. Albeit the onset of few studies conducted by Resiere et al (2018) and Devault et al (2021) describes the respiratory and skin health issues in human, however the impact of Sargassum on human health remains scarcely explored. Therefore, this study seeks to examine the direct effects as experienced by coastal residents and the costal ecosystems. To address this knowledge gap, this study investigates the impact of beaching of Sargassum in the Mexican Caribbean Coast (MCC) using social analyses via questionnaires. The objectives of this study were to i) assess the perceptions of people regarding the impact of Sargassum on MCC; ii) to identify the common health issues encountered by impacted community who is exposed to Sargassum; iii) to assess the level of awareness about the potential health risks associates with Sargassum exposure and iv) to examine the relationship Sargassum exposure and the health problems, in order to improvise the adaptation strategies to mitigate these impacts on human and costal health. 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS 2.1. Study area In Quintana Roo state, the Mexican Caribbean Coast (MCC) which is about ~ 1176 kilometers long is located adjacent to Yucatan basin in the Caribbean Sea, was formed from an oceanic origin with a uniform depth of ~ 4500 m. This Mexican Caribbean Coast (MCC) contains three main islands located in the continental shelf of Yucatan basin namely Cozumel, Mujeres and Contoy. This coast contains a wide variety of coastal landforms including open sea beachdune systems, mangrove forests, barrier islands, coastal lagoons namely, Nichupté and Chacmuchuc (which terminates in Boca Paila systems) and three major bays associated with Chetumal, Espiritu Santo and Ascención, where are influenced by the habitats of this tropical region (Rioja-Nieto et al., 2018). Early in the 1970s, the government and local stake holders encouraged the construction of Cancun as well as tourism and urban development which enhanced the country´s economic growth. The extensive urban spread resulted in population growth with an independent trend, shifting in focus from the tourism activities, with moderate industrial activities (Rioja-Nieto et al., 2018). With extensive population growth and urban sprawl, the intensity of tourism activities has accelerated the onset of anthropogenic impacts on MCC ecosystems that includes waste generation, mangrove deforestation, fishing exploitation and groundwater contamination (Rioja-Nieto et al., 2018). This regime’s karstic landscape made the coastal aquifer highly vulnerable to these emerging contaminants, later discharging into the sea (Hernández-Terrones et al., 2015). This was well established due to the high connectivity and mixing with the aquifer; thus, the freshwater resources have become contaminated with hydrocarbons (León-Borges & Lizardi-Jiménez, 2017) and sewage along with fecal bacteria resulted from untreated wastewater (HernandezTerrones et al., 2015; Secaira & Acevedo, 2017). Furthermore, this region is also vulnerable to hurricanes and climate changes associated with sea level rise and coral bleaching events (López-Pérez et al., 2024). The Mexican Caribbean Coast has a karst relief regionally known as “Cenotes” which is the main source of freshwater on the Yucatan Peninsula. This regime consists of highly permeable karstic terrain, where the surface water enters the aquifers through fractures and sinkholes, locally known as Cenotes. The preferential pathways for the water to percolate this karstic terrain resulted from two fault/lineaments systems for med 54 – 33 million years ago namely the Holbox Lineament Zone and the Rio Hondo Fault zone (Bauer-Gottwein et al., 2011). The groundwater is connected to the coast through carbonate dissolution by rock/water interaction between meteoric and saline groundwater (Wigley & Plummer, 1976). The freshwater aquifer in the Mexican Caribbean can be found between 5 and 20 m deep from the surface, where Submarine groundwater discharges (SGDs) are common along the coast and water is released into the coastal ocean through seepage or springs which accounts > 77% that is related to springs (Smart et al., 2006; Null et al., 2014). Sargassum Invasions in Mexican Caribbean Coast (MCC): Public Perspective on Health, Tourism, and Environmental Challenges IJSSHR, Volume 08 Issue 10 October 2025 www.ijsshr.in Page 7791 This zone experiences wave propagation in a southsoutheast direction from the Caribbean Sea associated with storms and hurricanes with a significant wave height of more than 10 m (Silva, Mnedoza, Escalante, Ruiz & Mariño, 2009). Due to this dynamic coastal morpho dynamics, frequent tropical cyclones cause widespread destruction in Mexican Caribbean coastal ecosystems and human infrastructure caused from inadequate coastal construction practices and rapid urbanization found close to the coastal zone. In this coast, the prevailing Caribbean current resulted from the Atlantic Ocean which was driven by the westward component of the tropical Atlantic circulation where the South Equatorial Currents merges with North Brazil Current, later bifurcates into two branches, one flowing towards North Equatorial Current and other pursue to flow toward the Caribbean. Also, the three water masses exist in the Caribbean such as the Warm Caribbean Surface Water (CSW), the Subtropical Underwater (SUW) and the Tropical Atlantic Central Water (TACW), whereas the characteristics of these water were modified by the coastal freshwater interactions and the circulation in the Mexican Caribbean. This large-scale circulation plays a crucial role for the connectivity of the ecosystems and the transport of heat, the nearshore dynamics which was responsible for transportation and dispersion of nutrients, pollutants, and sediments from the coastal areas. Further, this circulation results in the flushing of lagoons, where the shallow flows are dependent on bathymetric variability including reef colonies (MariñoTapia et al., 2010). This region is home to 16 natural protected areas (NPAs) including four flora and fauna protection areas, six national parks, five biological reserves and one sanctuary. The ecosystems in this regime include tropical deciduous forests, mangrove forests and other wetlands, seagrass and macroalgae beds and coral reefs (Meso American coral reef). The management and conservation of these ecosystems facing challenges such as illegal fishing, high tourism, unregulated and intensive urban and tourism construction, groundwater contamination. Nevertheless, the existing problems, the beaching of Sargassum has evolved with several direct and indirect which demands an intense investigation (Rodríguez-Muñoz et al., 2021). 2.2 Data collection This investigation aids to capture the insights on the socioenvironmental impacts markedly on human health perspective resulted from Sargassum using survey to perceive people´s opinion (Jeyakumar et al., 2022). Hence, we made an effort to understand the sensitivity of this brown tide disaster following the highest amount of accumulation encountered on 2021 (~ 10.1 million tonnes). The data were collected during August 2022, when the peak season of Sargassum accumulation was noticed from the Rivera Maya corridor that includes four major sites based on the simultaneous accumulation and elimination of Sargassum was conducted (Hamel et al., 2024). The study area was presented in Figure 1 initiates from Cancun (a), Playa del Carmen (b), Punta Allen (c) Mahahual (d) to highlight the geographical representation. The survey was conducted for period of 10 days and surveyed among the coastal workers (locally called as sargacero) recruited for the manual elimination of Sargassum, stakeholders, exposed individual exposed to Sargassum on regular basis and coastal residents based on tourism related activities (maids, vendors, fisherman, boat operators, hoteliers, fishery cooperatives) and geographical representation. On total of 71 individuals from aforementioned background were surveyed with no age limits, to well grasp the perspective of socioenvironmental impact from Sargassum. Among 71, 36 informants were male and 35 were female. Also, we classified the informants based on their age from 20-30; 30-40; 40-50; 50-60 and above 60. The interviews were voice recorded and used only to verify quotes to avoid any misinterpretation of the informant perspective. The interview varied from 30 minutes to 1 hour depend on willingness of each informant. The responses were recodified, and the data entered spreadsheets for descriptive analysis. In this analysis, only the information delivered by the people were considered for understanding the perception and only gender of the informants were used. Figure 1: Study area map showing surveyed zones from Mexican Caribbean Coast, Quintana Roo. Sargassum Invasions in Mexican Caribbean Coast (MCC): Public Perspective on Health, Tourism, and Environmental Challenges IJSSHR, Volume 08 Issue 10 October 2025 www.ijsshr.in Page 7792 2.3 Research design The survey consists of 23 questions which was classified into two categories focused on perception on coastal and human health respectively due to the beaching of Sargassum. The survey on coastal health consists of 10 questions, while the human health consists of 13 questions. The questions were designed based on the preexisting works on Sargassum impacts in the MCC (Rosellón Druker et al., 2023). All the predictive research questions were provided dichotomously with “yes” or “no” to precisely estimate the realistic future intuitions on MCC scenario due to the Sargassum beaching. 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The precured results were divided into two folds for flawless interpretations for the prevailing coastal and health impacts due to Sargassum. Among the informants, gender and age analyzed and the demographics were found similar accounting for 35 females and 36 males. For better understanding, the dataset was discussed based on gender as male and female facilitating the gender-based perceptions. For the female informants, about 10% were from the age range of 20 - 30; 30 % were from 30 - 40; 20% were from 40 – 50; 25% were from 50 – 60 and 15% were above 60. Meanwhile in male informants, the 43% were belongs to age range of 2030; 10% were from 30 – 40; 14% were 40 – 50; 24% were from 50 – 60 and 10% were above 60. The proportionality in the age groups were found higher for young and middle-aged people for both the gender, which is indicative for the susceptibility for onset of any health issues in the upcoming years based on their time exposed to Sargassum (EPA, 2023). The following two sets of discussions handles the perception on the coastal and human health impacted by the Sargassum in MCC. 3.1 Coastal health The survey was initiated with questions to know the opinions from informants to verify the coastal health perceived from Sargassum as presented in Figure 2. The initial questions were about the loss of elegance due to Sargassum, while majority of informants responded with “Yes” (90%) and 10% with “No” (Figure 2 (1)). This clearly indicates that how the presence of Sargassum has ruined the grace of MCC on larger scale. A similar study conducted by Rosellón-Druker et al (2023) reports the similar deterioration of beach landscape components markedly loss of turquoise blue seawater color. However, the 10% of “No”, indicate the respondents were less interest towards the landscape importance. This question clearly reveals this perception on Sargassum affecting the aesthetics of MCC influence the tourism and other activities. Followed by the next question on feeling any discomfort from the presence of Sargassum on the beach (Figure 2 (2)), where 83% of both genders were experiencing discomfort, which shows the sensory factors such as odor and irritation due to the presence of Sargassum. This is clearly in accordance with Hamel et al (2024), where the beach users were strongly affected with “overwhelming smell”. The combined questions on the presence of any invasive species and mortality nearby on the coast (Figure2 (3,8)), astonishingly, 74% were replied with “yes” and 26% with negative response. This response encounters a disparity with the information, indicating that ecological impact perceived from Sargassum has not been recognized well due to lack of awareness. However, a recent study has manifested the arrival and mortality of seagrass and fishes with demersal neritic habitats and crustaceans, and the mortality was due to combined effect of high ammonium and H2S concentrations together with hypoxic conditions (van Tussenbroak et al., 2017; Rodríguez-Martínez et al., 2019). In addition, a study on ghost crab density manifests the beaching cleaning activities for the removal of Sargassum have similar impact for beach quality monitoring (Ocaña et al., 2020). Also, there is discreet impact observed from the Sargassum, which was an assemblage of epiphytic carbonates dominated by bryozoan skeletons, serpulid worms tubes and smaller quantities of crustose red algae as identified as Salter et al (2020). This study also estimated the average carbonate import of 7000 kg.m-1 of shoreline along a 60 km stretch of coast between Cancun and Playa de Carmen suggesting total carbonate import for that year averaged 179 kgCaCO3.m-1 of shoreline. Following the opinion on noticing changes on nesting behavior of sea turtles after Sargassum blooms (Figure 2(4)). Most of the informants (66%) stated for no changes and 34% stated for changes in nesting behavior. The contrary response involves the lack of adequate information on this perspective. Albeit this opinion, a report indicates that in Mahahual, the number of sea turtles has decreased by 70%, with the average number of eggs per nest dropping from around 100 to 30. This decline has attributed to increased amount of Sargassums and trash on the beaches, hindering the female turtles from accessing the suitable nesting sites and pose obstacles for hatchlings trying to reach the sea (Galera, 2023). A scientific study by Maurer et al (2021) identified the changes in sea turtles nesting in the North Atlantic owing to invasion of Sargassum. Sargassum Invasions in Mexican Caribbean Coast (MCC): Public Perspective on Health, Tourism, and Environmental Challenges IJSSHR, Volume 08 Issue 10 October 2025 www.ijsshr.in Page 7793 Figure 2: Graphical representation of opinions on environmental impacts perceived from Sargassum influxes in Mexican Caribbean Coast For perceiving the opinion on direct or indirect impact on the Sargassum deposit on land (Figure 2 (5)), nearly partial respondents of 61% accepted the impact of burial of Sargassum during cleaning activities, while other 39% denied. There is extensive research which initially declared the nutrient input (𝑁𝐻4 +) by the decomposition of Sargassum along with the low availability of dissolved oxygen (Camacho-Cruz et al., 2022). Also, the burial of Sargassum along with decomposition releases toxic Sargassum Invasions in Mexican Caribbean Coast (MCC): Public Perspective on Health, Tourism, and Environmental Challenges IJSSHR, Volume 08 Issue 10 October 2025 www.ijsshr.in Page 7794 metals considerably Arsenic in their leachates (Olguín – Maciel et al., 2022; Rodríguez-Martínez et al., 2020). Also, a study by SotoMorales et al (2022) and Ortega-Flores et al (2022) presented the accumulation of Mg, Li, Mo, U, Sb, Cs, Cu, Fe, As in the Sargassum species, latter having the higher chances of release of leachates and its bioaccumulation. Abdool-Ghany et al (2023) clearly described the limitation of using Sargassum compost owing to higher concentrations of Arsenic and its bioaccumulation factors when used in farming. Apart from the metal prefoliation, the Sargassum cleanup activities using machinery results in a substantial loss of sediment accounting between 30 and 90% of the material removed from beaches was sand (Oxenford et al., 2021; Roig-Munar et al., 2022). Chavez et al (2020) endorsed on Sargassum cleanup activities has reduced the beach length by almost half. The questions about noticing changes in accumulation of Sargassum during hurricane time were found with 30% of respondents denying with “no”, while 70% accepted with “yes” (Figure 2 (6)). The drastic change in the response clearly indicates lack of observation among the beach users, however, strong evidence manifests the arrival of Sargassum was totally dominated by strong wind and currents prevailing in the North Atlantic Ocean, which is responsible for transportation of Sargassum towards MCC (Johns et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2024). The question about changes in tourist´s perception was accepted by 77% respondents with “yes” and 23% with “no” (Figure 2 (7)). This highlights the baseline impacts of Sargassum affecting the tourism in MCC, which was identified through a study by Hamel et al (2024) that endorsed the declining tourists arrival demanding refund for their reservations after having a look at the beach. The main decline of tourism resulted from restrictions of recreational activities offshore and onshore such as water activities like boating, surfing, paragliding (Hamel et al., 2024). The next question directed on economic loss due to the beaching of Sargassum, where only 30% for “yes” and 70% for “no” (Figure 2 (9)). This astonishing result for “no “indicate a clear notation that since this survey were done mostly among the sargacero, their principal income resulted from the sargasso elimination on regular basis. Simultaneously, 30% of “yes” were resulted from the other tourists operators such as boat operators, local vendors, and hoteliers who has lost their income due to declined tourism activities from the Sargassum arrival (Rodríguez-Martínez et al., 2023). It is noteworthy to mention, the Sargassum disposal procedures includes huge cleanup cost up to US$5 million that will share for heavy machinery coasts, labors (sargaceros) transportation and disposal techniques (Milledge and Harvey, 2016). On the other side, nearly over 90 patents were received refers to Sargassum that has been used for both fertilizer and animal feed (Laffoley et al., 2011; Joniver et al., 2021). Therefore, most of the negative response indicated the economic benefits received from Sargassum, since the people lacking the clear impact perceived from the Sargassum and its exposure. Finally, the question about the presence of Sargassum affected personally indicated 69% for “yes” and 31% for “no” (Figure 2 (10)). These results clearly represent the presence of Sargassum on multitude manner affecting the physical and mental health of the people who is exposed on regular basis. Since, the initial disturbance initiates from the foul smelling of Sargassum upon arrival on the coast, latter inviting several tiny bugs and insects affecting the elegance and beach quality (Hamel et al., 2024). 3.2. Human health The second set of questions involves the human health impacts perceived from Sargassum arrival presented in Figure 3 (113). The initial question was aimed to check the exposure time of the person to the Sargassum (Fig 3 (1)). Nearly, 55% were found with no exposure followed with 15% found for 8 hours of exposure, and 1% for 7 and 4 hours; 4% for 5 – 6 hours of exposure and 11% for 3 hours; 7% for 1 hour of exposure. The highest responses with no exposure resulted from the respondents who is other than sargacero with other economic activities related to tourism, whilst the other responses resulted directly from the sargacero who were supposed to have the exposure to Sargassum on timely basis averaging 8 hours/day (Agencias, 2019). The next questions were about the use of protection kits such as gloves, glass, masks, and apron during the exposure of Sargassum (Fig 3 (2)). The respondents were replied with 65% for “yes” and 35% for “no” which was found nearly partial. Since the onset of Sargassum on MCC was imposing a greater impact within short span of time, only few governments and private entities were able to handle the Sargassum deposit by hiring people for manual removing on contract basis. Due to lack of knowledge on the Sargassum impact during earlier time, the sargacero handled the Sargassum without any protection. However, based on increasing works on Sargassum impact on human health, some of the entities implemented the obligatory use of glass, gloves, apron, and mask for the safety of sargacero as represented in Figure 4 (a-e). Then question on sensation of any irritation on eyes and throat resulted with 44% for “yes”, while 56% for “no”, here most of the negative responses might result owing to the use of mask, glass, and gloves during their exposure to Sargassum (Figure 3 (3)). However, the respondents feeling the irritation resulted due to lack of protective measures and longer exposure during removal process. It is also important to mention that, during the decomposition of Sargassum based on several environmental factors such as temperature and moisture, hydrogen sulfide gas will be released from few days to weeks, which will cause irritation in sensory organs (Banydeen et al., 2024). This is very evident that patients reported with similar sensory irritability after beaching of Sargassum in Atlantic islands were reported by Resiere et al (2020), however, this study regimes still lacks medical history of the patients reported after this Sargassum arrival at MCC. Also, the question about skin infection due to Sargassum were resulted with 32% for “yes” and 68% for “no” (Figure 3 (4)). This result remains similar with the previous results, endorsing that the time and longevity of the individual exposure to the Sargassum describes their personal health impact and also the exposure to freshly beached Sargassum, and decaying Sargassum have separated effects on individuals (Banydeen et al., 2024). Sargassum Invasions in Mexican Caribbean Coast (MCC): Public Perspective on Health, Tourism, and Environmental Challenges IJSSHR, Volume 08 Issue 10 October 2025 www.ijsshr.in Page 7795 The question on any stings or bites from any insects found among the Sargassum resulted with 73% for “no” and 27% for “yes” (Figure 3 (5)). This was disparate and indicated that use of protection kits and exposure to fresh Sargassum aids in escaping from sting bites, whilst the decaying Sargassum attracts several insects over fouling smell, that indeed affects the person exposed to the insects (EPA, 2023). Also, the information about feeling difficulty in breathing resulted in 89% for “no” and 11% for “yes” (Figure 3 (6)). These results were found astonishingly disparate, because the preliminary impact from the Sargassum beaching was foul smelling along with gas emissions, but these negative responses indicate the higher exposure to fresh Sargassum and 5% responses clearly delt with the respondents who were exposed to decayed Sargassum and the simultaneous fouling smell causes difficulty in breathing even respiratory problems (Resiere et al., 2021; Banydeen et al., 2024). The question on specification on any health problems manifested the onset of following problems such as blurry vision (11%), headache (28%), mood swing (13%) others (10%) and none (38%) as shown in figure 3 (7). The incongruous responses clearly indicated that most of the respondents doesn’t indicate any signs of health problems, however 28% of the people had headache and 13% for mood swing and 11% for blurry vision (Schmidt, 2023). The onset of the problem resulted from the Sargassum, because the studies conducted by Resiere et al (2021) reported few neurological disorders such as headache, dizziness and sleep disorders for the patients who exposed to the Sargassum in North Atlantic Islands. But 38% of the respondents indicated none of the disorders, owing to the respondent recent exposure to Sargassum and their age factors, that’s play a dominant role for the intensity of health disorders (Banydeen et al., 2024). The following question about showing symptoms of slurred speeches with changes in facial expressions showed 89% for “no” and 11% for “yes” as shown in figure 3 (8). Even though, only 11% of the responded, this indicates the mild onset of neurological disorders among the people who has exposed to the Sargassum (Resiere et al., 2021). Also, responded were agreed for temporary memory loss by 14% and denied that response by 86% (Figure 3 (9)), which is also resultant of neurological disorders. In order to avoid the misinterpretation of these health impacts, the respondents were checked for COVID-19 infection during the pandemic resulted with 75% for “no” and 25% for “yes” (Figure 3 (10)), since the outcomes of COVID-19 were also related to some neurological disorders including disturbances in sleep cycle (Xu et al., 2022). Figure 3: Graphical representation of opinions on human health impacts perceived from Sargassum influxes in Mexican Caribbean Coast The question about presence of any chronic illness were identified with 87% with no chronic illness, while 13% with “yes” (Figure 3 (11)). Also, this question aids understand well that most of the recent health discomforts indicated after the exposure to Sargassum, moreover, this response confirms that most of the respondents do not have any chronic illness, but other skin and respiratory problems that eventually resulted from the Sargassum. Finally, the question about visiting the health care facilities after showing any symptoms due to Sargassum resulted in 78% for “yes” and 22% for “no” (Figure 3 (13)). These two responses highly Sargassum Invasions in Mexican Caribbean Coast (MCC): Public Perspective on Health, Tourism, and Environmental Challenges IJSSHR, Volume 08 Issue 10 October 2025 www.ijsshr.in Page 7796 demonstrates that the people are affected by Sargassum presence that required a large-scale health monitor study in the MCC. The higher percentage of people using the health center facilities due to symptoms experienced after Sargassum exposures, indicates the reality of health impacts perceived from the Sargassum, thus requiring an immediate investigation on human health in the MCC. Figure 4: a-e. Photographs on Sargassum deposit, transportation and disposal by sargacero. 4. CONCLUSION The findings from this study highlighted the socioenvironmental impacts of Sargassum influxes on the Mexican Caribbean Coast. By conducting a survey over 71 informants who were dedicated to manual removal of Sargassum and other tourism related workers upon exposing themselves to Sargassum on regular basis. The survey was conducted in point of view focused on coastal and human health impact perceived to Sargassum and its exposure. The results on coastal health clearly denoted that the MCC is negatively impacted by Sargassum affected tourism, marine ecosystems, thus deteriorating overall coastal aesthetics. The focus on human health results indicate that women tend to report greater concerns focused on health effects of Sargassum, markedly in respiratory discomforts. The gendered variation in the perception affirms the Sargassum´s consequences extend beyond ecological degradation thus affecting social and economic dimensions. Whilst some individuals experience direct effects such as health symptoms and economic losses. Henceforth, understanding these differences in people´s perspectives is crucial for designing inclusive and effective management strategies. To mitigate the adverse effects of Sargassum, this study underlines the importance to implement targeted interventions through improved monitoring of air quality, enhanced cleanup operations and sustainable adaption measures for the consideration of ecological and human health concerns. Thus, this study is considered as a baseline study which enforces the need for longer term multidisciplinary research for addressing the multifaceted challenges posed by Sargassum influxes and encouraging coastal communities can work towards sustainable solutions that protects both environmental and human wellbeing, therefore ensuring long term resilience for facing the recurring Sargassum tides in MCC. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS NPMS wishes to thank for their financial support through project (20231968) and Sistema Nacional de Investigadores (SNI). JSS gratefully acknowledges the financial support from SECHITI, Mexico for the postdoctoral fellowship TZJV wishes to express their gratitude to SECHITI for the research fellowship. DCEU wishes to thank for their financial support through project (20231968). NPMS, SSLJ, MNC, DCEU thank Sistema Nacional de Investigadores (SNI), Mexico for the present research. We thank all the volunteers who have contributed their time and resources to the collection of these data. AUTHOR’S CONTRIBUTIONS Conceptualization: NPMS, SSLJ, DCEU; Data curation: NPMS, SSLJ, NPA; Formal analysis: NPMS, SSLJ, TZJV; Funding acquisition: NPMS, DCEU; Investigation: NPMS, SSLJ, MNC, TZJV, NPA, DCEU; Methodology: NPMS, SSLJ, DCEU; Project administration: NPMS, DCEU; Resources: NPMS, DCEU; Software: NPMS, SSLJ, MNC, TZJV, DCEU; Supervision: NPMS, Sargassum Invasions in Mexican Caribbean Coast (MCC): Public Perspective on Health, Tourism, and Environmental Challenges IJSSHR, Volume 08 Issue 10 October 2025 www.ijsshr.in Page 7797 SSLJ, DCEU; Validation: NPMS, SSLJ, MNC,TZJV, DCEU; Visualization: NPMS, SSLJ, MNC,TZJV; Roles/Writing - original draft: NPMS, SSLJ, MNC, TZJV, NPA, DCEU; Writing: - review & editing: NPMS, SSLJ, MNC, TZJV, NPA, DCEU. All authors reviewed the manuscript. REFERENCES 1) Abdool-Ghany, A. A., Pollier, C. G. L., Oehlert, A. M., Swart, P. K., Blare, T., Moore, K., & Solo-Gabriele, H. M., 2023. Assessing quality and beneficial uses of Sargassum compost. 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