Mothers Wage Battle After Finding Syringes at Beach : Health: Two Costa Mesa women are prodding officials to take action after finding dozens of used hypodermic needles along the beach.

NEWPORT BEACH —  It was supposed to be a fun day at the beach, but what happened that afternoon in late June turned into a nightmare for Jennifer Marer and her family.

Marer’s 1-year-old son, Joshua, had picked up a used hypodermic syringe from the sand near the Newport Pier and poked the inside of his mouth with it.

“We were just walking around, picking up shells, and the next thing I saw was Josh with the syringe in one hand and blood running out of his mouth,” said Marer, 28, of Costa Mesa. “I was horrified.”

With her three other young sons in tow, Marer rushed Joshua to Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, where he was tested for infectious diseases, including hepatitis and the AIDS virus. Marer still worries that Joshua could have contracted HIV. “Doctors say it takes six months for it to show up in tests,” she said.

Since then, Marer has teamed up with Connie Julien, another Costa Mesa resident, to warn beach-goers about used syringes hidden in the sand. Recently, the outraged women told City Council members that they have found dozens of syringes at the beach.

“Police told me it was not uncommon to see syringes on the beach,” Julien, 36, said. “I don’t want it to become common. (Syringes) are not supposed to be on the beach. Someone could poke themselves and get AIDS. I thought everybody knew about AIDS.”

Julien turned over to city officials two containers full of syringes that she said she found along a half-mile stretch of shoreline between the Balboa Pier and the Newport Bay west jetty.

City Manager Kevin J. Murphy said the city tries to keep its beaches clean of debris.

“The city has an active program trying to make sure upstream material stays upstream. We’ll try to take care of it,” he said.

Julien said that last summer she almost stepped on a syringe that had blood on it. Since then, she has made combing the sand for dangerous debris an early morning ritual before work. She manages a business and apartment building on the oceanfront.

“Nobody else is cleaning it up,” she said. “Nobody’s worrying about it, and I find a syringe or syringe parts almost every day.”

Syringes are often found at the beach, said Police Lt. Doug Fletcher. When they are, “they are disposed of and we usually make an attempt to ascertain the source and take action,” he said.

However, the sources of the syringes that Julien has found have not been determined.

Julien said she is afraid for her 3-year-old son, who could easily pop a needle into his mouth, as Joshua Marer did.

“Someone is doing something wrong and illegal, and it’s not right,” she said. “It’s like being beat up and robbed and nobody does anything about it.”

Marer and her husband, Greg, 30, share the same frustration.

“I want to be able to take our sons to the beach without fear,” said Jennifer Marer, a veterinary technician. “It’s supposed to be a safe place for them to play.”

City officials said a mechanical sweeper is used to clean up beach trash about twice a week during this time of year.

Marer and Julien, however, vowed to raise public awareness about the danger on the city’s beaches and to continue prodding officials to increase cleanup efforts.