Issue no. 168 - Eutrophication, Cyanobacteria, and Cyanotoxins Newsletter

From the Mainstream Media / Dans les médias grand public

Lakes Worldwide Need a Checkup

“Some lake health symptoms, such as algal blooms, fish kills, and floating pollution, are readily visible via processes like satellite observation. But other concerns can be revealed only with diagnostic tests, which, like diagnostic tests for humans, can be expensive.”

Great Britain: Tourist influx turns Windermere green, researchers say

“Windermere is England's largest lake and one of the country's most popular natural attractions. High visitor numbers are turning one of Britain's most scenic lakes green, researchers say.”

Lethal cyanobacteria are creeping into rivers—no one knows exactly why

“Anatoxin-a is a fast-acting small molecule that causes sudden death as the toxin travels directly from the stomach into the bloodstream.”

Podcast: AgEmerge: with Chris Jones, author of The Swine Republic, Struggles with Truth About Agriculture and Water Quality

“Today he and Monte discuss the agricultural efficiencies and practices that we can make happen in more environmentally responsible ways. That includes a system approach to our entire management practices.”

USA: Harmful Algal Bloom Surveillance Reveals 2021 Health Impacts

“In 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recorded 368 harmful algal bloom (HAB) events across 16 states through the One Health Harmful Algal Bloom System (OHHABS). These HAB events, characterized by the rapid growth of algae or cyanobacteria in water bodies, resulted in 117 human cases of illness and over 2,715 animal cases.”

Drainage Water Recycling for Crop Production and Water Quality

“Drainage water recycling also benefits water quality by capturing nitrogen and phosphorus that would otherwise be carried downstream with the drainage water.”

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From the Scientific Media / Des médias scientifiques :

Lake toxin concentrations increase when phosphorus is reduced

“We analyzed timeseries data from hundreds of lakes (US National Lakes Assessment) and show that when phosphorus only is reduced, microcystin (the toxin produced by the cyanobacteria Microcystis) concentration increases. However, when nitrogen is reduced together with phosphorus, microcystin concentration decreases along with biomass.”

Florida Sea Grant Symposia Promote Collaboration Among Harmful Algal Bloom Stakeholders

“The symposia consensus reports are used to inform Florida’s Harmful Algal Bloom and Blue-Green Algae Task Forces by aligning and prioritizing the management and research needs of the agencies and scientific institutions and to facilitate cohesive public outreach.”

Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms and Public Health: Using Tools From the Cyanobacteria Assessment Network to Reduce Exposure

“To support water quality and recreational water managers in creating a more comprehensive management toolbox for protecting human health, public health professionals can use the CyANWeb application to complement existing capabilities in field monitoring.”

Carcass locations implicate cyanobacterial toxicity in a mass elephant mortality event in Botswana

“This study presents important new evidence that implicates cyanobacterial toxicity in the 2020 mass die-off and provides a general framework for investigation of future mortality events of large mammals.”

Comprehensive analysis of cyanobacterial secondary metabolites distribution and toxicity in urban water bodies

“After 24 h of exposure, the semi-lethal concentrations (LC50) of the water samples ranged from 0.31 mg L−1 to 1.78 mg L−1 (MC-LR equivalent concentration).”

Microcystin-LR Induces Estrogenic Effects at Environmentally Relevant Concentration in Black-Spotted Pond Frogs (Pelophylax nigromaculatus): In Situ, In Vivo, In Vitro, and In Silico Investigations

“While hepatoxicity has historically been the focus of MC-LR risk assessments, our data clearly demonstrate that estrogenicity is a major mode of toxicity at environmental levels and that estrogenic effects should be considered for risk assessments on MC-LR going forward.”

Insights into cyanobacterial blooms through the lens of omics

“This systematic literature review aims to present the genomic architecture, adaptive mechanisms, microbial interactions, and ecological impacts of HCBs through the lens of omics.”

Functional trait-based phytoplankton biomass and assemblage analyses in the pre-growing season for comprehensive algal bloom risk assessment

“We emphasize the importance of phytoplankton functional traits for early AB warning and NH4+ reduction for AB control in the pre-growing season.”

Management Strategy for Overwintering Cyanobacteria in Sediments Contributing to Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs)

“Targeting resting cells in sediments for preventative management may provide a viable approach to delay onset and mitigate blooms.”

Control of Vibrio vulnificus proliferation in the Baltic Sea through eutrophication and algal bloom management

“Thus, reducing nutrient inputs could be an effective method to control V. vulnificus populations in eutrophied brackish coasts.”

Microbiome processing of organic nitrogen input supports growth and cyanotoxin production of Microcystis aeruginosa cultures

“Our laboratory culture data suggest that organic N input could support Microcystis blooms and toxin production in nature, and Microcystis-associated microbial communities likely play critical roles in this process.”

Denitrifying bioreactors and dissolved phosphorus: Net source or sink?

“DRP was removed across the bioreactors in 15 of 23 site-years. The 23 site-years provided a median annual DRP removal efficiency of 12% and a median annual DRP removal rate of 7.1 mg DRP/m3 bioreactor per day.”