Human intoxication by microcystins during renal dialysis treatment in Caruaru—Brazil

A review of neurotoxicity of microcystins

“…Due to the hepatotoxicity of MCs, the liver was considered to be the main target of MCs in previous study; however, in the tragedy which happened in Caruaru, Brazil, on February 1996, 131 patients were intravenously exposed to various concentrations of MCs and 116 of them (89 %) presented general neurological symptoms including dizziness, tinnitus, vertigo, headache, vomiting, nausea, mild deafness, visual disturbances, and blindness (Azevedo et al 2002;Pouria et al 1998;Carmichael et al 2001). It is confirmed that the transport of MCs crossing blood-brain barrier can be mediated by organic anion-transporting peptide (rodent Oatps; human OATPs), implying that the brain may also be one of the main targets of MCs (Fischer et al 2005).…”

Cyanotoxins in inland lakes of the United States: Occurrence and potential recreational health risks in the EPA National Lakes Assessment 2007

“…Microcystins have also been detected in human blood serum after exposure (Soares et al, 2006;Yuan et al, 2006;Chen et al, 2009). Vulnerable populations can be more susceptible to cyanotoxin-associated illnesses, and death may result in extreme cases such as dialysis using improperly treated water (Pouria et al, 1998;Azevedo et al, 2002;de la Cruz et al, 2013;Hilborn et al, 2013Hilborn et al, , 2014.…”

Sorption, degradation and mobility of microcystins in Chinese agriculture soils: risk assessment for groundwater protection

“…Microcystins (MCs), a family of hepatotoxins produced by freshwater cyanobacterial blooms, are responsible for liver failure of wild animals, livestock and aquatic life (Carmichael, 1992(Carmichael, , 1994Sivonen and Jones, 1999), as well as human illnesses and even death due to the exposure to hepatotoxin contaminated water (Azevedo et al, 2002). Over 70 structurally different MCs have been discovered in the past century (Harada et al, 1990;Sivonen and Jones, 1999).…”