Algae illnesses grow, but state (Florida) delays warnings

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http://www.news-journalonline.com/2001/Jul/22/SP2.htm

Algae illnesses grow, but state delays warnings

By IVONA LERMAN (ivona.lerman@...)

Environment Writer

DEBARY-- Burns, an algae expert, advises people to avoid swimming in a

number of local lakes with potentially toxic blue-green algae blooms.

So does the World Health Organization.

But so far state and local health officials have no monitoring programs in

place for these algae, which have been suspected of causing illnesses

ranging from skin irritations to liver cancer worldwide. No warnings will be

issued until more research is done, they said.

Meanwhile, evidence of the algae's potential dangers continues to mount. In

England, a group of soldiers became sick after swimming and canoeing in

water with a blue-green algae bloom. In China, people drinking untreated

water with blue-green algae had higher occurrence of liver cancer than

people drinking groundwater. And in Brazil people died after water

containing blue-green algae was accidentally injected into their blood.

Locally, blue-green algae have been found in a number of waterways including

Crescent Lake in Flagler County and Lake Ashby, Lake Bethel, Lake and

Lake Monroe in Volusia County. Local wildlife officials believe some of the

blooms might have caused wildlife kills.

Last August unexplained bird deaths occurred at Lake Crescent during algal

blooms. Alligators at Lake in Lake County have also been dying in

increased numbers, but there is no evidence that blue-green algae might be

the cause, said Perran Ross, an associate scientist at the Florida Museum of

Natural History.

Blue-greens have also been tough on Florida's laboratory mice.

To test the toxicity of these algae, scientists injected concentrated

samples of algae into the blood of mice. Many died in less than 48 hours. A

sample from Lake Ashby, for example, killed a mouse in five minutes.

But scientists are not sure if that's the right way to determine toxicity of

blue-greens.

Something else in the water samples could be killing mice as well, said

, a Cyanobacteria Survey Project Coordinator and a contractor

for the St. s River Water Management District. " We just don't know. "

Researchers are not sure how widespread and toxic these algae might be.

" It's a new kid on the block, " said Dean , an environmental

scientist for the water management district. He also said that hundreds of

bird deaths at Lake Apopka in recent years might have had something to do

with blue-green algae, and prompted scientists to look at the issue more

seriously.

So far there have been no confirmed human illnesses or deaths from

blue-green algae. " Right now, we're gathering information and trying to find

cases of people getting sick, " said , aquatic toxins program

coordinator with the Florida Department of Health.

For now people in Florida are left with their own judgment in avoiding

blue-greens, visible only when they bloom as greenish and brownish scum on

the surface of lakes.

" It's just like (avoiding) poison ivy: You don't go into unknown bushes, "

said Gill McRae, a facilitator of the Harmful Algal Bloom Task Force at the

Florida Marine Research Institute in St. sburg, which was founded in

1999 to address harmful algal blooms around the state.

For now there are no state labs capable of testing for blue-greens. But

state agencies will soon start working together on extending their lab

capabilities, said.

A monitoring process could start once the U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency sets nationwide standards for blue-greens, said. But that could

take several years, he said.

With only a few people reporting swim-related rashes, it doesn't seem like

more needs to be done right now, said. People just need to use their

best judgment, he said. " If you see dead fish on a lake, I wouldn't swim in

it. "

It's unlikely that people would want to swim in blue-green algae blooms

anyway, said. " They are unsightly and smell horrible. "

Once they found blue-greens in a number of surface waterways statewide,

scientists began to question: Could the same algae be present in the

drinking water?

To their surprise, the answer was yes.

Preliminary results show that treatment systems now in use at surface water

plants in Florida are not effective in eliminating blue-green algae from

drinking water.

So whenever algal blooms are present in surface water, they are also present

in treated drinking water, said Burns, a former St. s River Water

Management District researcher who established a private toxic algae lab.

In most of central Florida, surface water is not used as a drinking source,

but there are proposals to do so.

" A growing dependence on surface water for drinking is worrisome, " Burns

said. " There is a potential for problems. "

So far no cases of sickness from drinking water in Florida have been linked

to blue-green algae, said, although there have been several false

alarms. But cattle and other animals in the United States have died from

drinking algae-infested water, according to the World Health Organization.

Different concentrations of algae in water might pose different threats to

animals and humans. The problem is that safe limits are not known.

For one of the toxins, linked to the China cancer cases, the World Health

Organization set a limit on maximum lifetime exposure. A Southwest Florida

water treatment facility in Arcadia, tested in May 2000, exceeded that limit

by four times when the test figures were adjusted for comparison, Burns

said.

Cases of people getting sick because of blue-green algae might be

underreported because of a lack of knowledge about the algae's toxicity and

related symptoms, according to the World Health Organization.

Fast facts

Symptoms possible after swimming in or ingesting water containing blue-green

algae include: abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, sore throat, dry

cough, headache, blistering of the month, atypical pneumonia and elevated

liver enzymes.

If you know you've been swimming in water with blue-green algae and

experience any of the symptoms above while swimming or drinking water or

afterward, call the Estuary Associated Illness hot line at 1 (888) 232-8635

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