Public health responses to toxic cyanobacterial blooms: perspectives from the 2016 Florida event

Abstract

In June 2016, massive cyanobacterial blooms occurred in the St. Lucie River in Florida, caused by nutrient and cyanobacterial-laden water releases from Lake Okeechobee. We independently collected and analyzed bloom material for cyanotoxin diversity and concentrations. The concentrations of microcystins, potent hepatotoxins, present in the bloom material greatly exceeded World Health Organization Guideline Values for drinking and recreational water. We also detected the neurotoxins anatoxin-a(S) and β-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA). The Florida State Governor declared a state of emergency, but many affected aquatic recreational areas in St. Lucie County remained open during the bloom event without adequate hazard notification to citizens. During the bloom event, issues with preparedness, communication, sampling, analysis, closures and contingencies were observed. We suggest better ways that cyanobacterial bloom events can be predicted, managed, and mitigated in the future throughout the world. As similar problems with cyanobacterial bloom frequency and occurrence present worldwide, understanding governmental responses to the 2016 Florida incident can help in the development of effective mitigation and management strategies for future bloom events.

Ocean warming along temperate western boundaries of the Northern Hemisphere promotes an expansion of Cochlodinium polykrikoides blooms

“…This highlights another important aspect of climate change and HABs, specifically that ocean warming will change the threat of HABs in specific ecosystems, diminishing the likelihood of some HABs, but increasing the likelihood of others. These changes can be a challenge to both medical communities that may face new human health challenges [35,36] and marine organisms and ecosystems that will be naive to prior exposure to newly occurring HABs, and thus potentially more vulnerable to these new events [37].…”

Scientists’ warning to humanity: microorganisms and climate change

“…Bloomforming cyanobacteria produce a variety of neurotoxins, hepatotoxins and dermatoxins, which can be fatal to birds and mammals (including waterfowl, cattle and dogs) and threaten the use of waters for recreation, drinking water production, agricultural irrigation and fisheries 198 . Toxic cyanobacteria have caused major water quality problems, for example in Lake Taihu (China), Lake Erie (USA), Lake Okeechobee (USA), Lake Victoria (Africa) and the Baltic Sea [198][199][200] .…”

Field‐Validated Detection of Aureoumbra lagunensis Brown Tide Blooms in the Indian River Lagoon, Florida, Using Sentinel‐3A OLCI and Ground‐Based Hyperspectral Spectroradiometers

“…The IRL encompasses three major lagoons: Mosquito Lagoon in the north, Banana River in the northeast, and the Indian River proper, which extends from Volusia County to Palm Beach County (Figure 1a). In recent years, the growth of HABs within the waters of the IRL have devastated populations of marine life and hindered the local economy (Barile, 2018;Chamberlain & Hayward, 1996;Dybas, 2002;Gobler et al, 2013;Lapointe et al, 2015Lapointe et al, , 2017McNeal et al, 1995;Metcalf et al, 2018;Trocine & Trefry, 1996;Yang et al, 2013). The increasing frequency of cyanobacterial and other types of HABs has posed an environmental hazard of growing concern to the more than 1 million residents living along the IRL through fish kills and the negative public health impacts of cyanotoxins, including neurodegenerative and liver diseases (Metcalf et al, 2018).…”