Cyanobacteria

The toxins produced by CyanoHABs are called Cyanotoxins. Humans and wildlife alike can be exposed to Cyanotoxins via contaminated drinking water or can be transmitted via food raised in or irrigated with contaminated water. Recreational exposure to cyanotoxins can occur via direct skin contact, inhalation, or inadvertent ingestion of water. Since CyanoHABs encompass a multitude of species, the toxic byproducts of the blooms can range from mild irritants to hepatotoxins and neurotoxins.  Mild reactions include rashes and allergies.  Vomiting, nausea, fever, myalgia, hallucination, liver and kidney diseases and cancers, neuromuscular problems and potentially even death are all symptoms of more severe CyanoHAB exposure. CyanoHABs have been linked to deaths of both wild and domesticated animals, including multiple dog deaths.  

The public health threat is potentially intensified when standard water treatment technologies do not effectively remove these toxins.  In some cases, water treatment can exacerbate the problem rather than alleviate it.  For example, the use of copper sulfate as an agent to control a bloom may, in fact, disrupt cells and release toxins into the water.  However, it is not known how often toxin-producing blooms occur in drinking water sources and publicly accessible ponds, or if most standard drinking water treatments reduce toxin concentrations sufficiently to protect public health.  It is also unclear whether the public is being routinely exposed to very low levels of these toxins in drinking or recreational waters or what the long-term impacts might be.  In 2015, a study of the contiguous US found a statistical link between local cyanobacteria blooms and clusters of deaths due to non-alcoholic liver disease.  The discovery of CyanoHAB impacts like this one are ongoing. Because the adverse effects of Cyanotoxins restrict their use in experimental studies, it is difficult to develop scientifically-based safety guidelines for human ingestion and inhalation.