At the beginning of July, authorities from the Florida Department of Health reported a case of Naegleria fowleri infection, a deadly amoeba. More recently, scientists have revealed that Florida waters are filled with multiple toxins.
Amoeba lingers in freshwater such as rivers, lakes, and ponds, particularly during the summer. When experts analyzed water samples from Lake Okeechobee, the results showed toxic algae aside from the Naegleria fowleri.
Recently published in the Neurotoxicity Research journal, scientists analyze the recent algal and cyanobacterial blooms in the state waters and the potential dangers of being exposed to these toxins. The water samples they've reviewed in the past two years range from Lake Okeechobee to the Gulf of Mexico.
Algal and cyanobacterial blooms are the rapid increase of their populations in water systems, usually causing the freshwater to be discolored by their green pigment. The excessive populations are often the result of nutrients available for the algae to thrive while producing harmful toxins.
Multiple Toxins
In 2018, scientists kept track of cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, in Florida waters like Lake Okeechobee and the Caloosahatchee River since they are both nutrient-rich waters. Along the entire state's west coast, high concentrations of microcystin-LR, a cyanotoxin produced by the algae, threatens both animal and human populations nearby.
Two other algae they found were Microcystis aeruginosa which produces microcystin liver toxins as well as the Karenia brevis which makes brevetoxin, a deadly neurotoxin. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns that brevetoxin infection can be acquired by direct exposure in the water or by eating contaminated shellfish.
The neurotoxin can cause abdominal pain, diarrhea, vertigo, and ataxia, or drunk-like behavior. Moreover, an infection can cause paresthesia, an uncomfortable tingling sensation, as well as shortness of breath and bronchospasm.
Another neurotoxin, β-Methylamino- l-alanine (BMAA), was found not only as another toxin in the Florida waters but may be linked to several neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease. By 2019, the west coast contained high concentrations of BMAA from cyanobacterial samples.
Monitoring Algal Blooms
'We have been monitoring Florida waters for cyanobacterial toxins since the 2016 emergency release of Lake Okeechobee water down the St. Lucie River and the Caloosahatchee,' said Dr. James Metcalf from Brain Chemistry Labs in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. 'We are concerned that cyanobacterial releases from Lake Okeechobee down these two rivers continue to occur.'
Algal blooms, also known as red tides, have caused numerous losses of fish populations and have caused seasonal respiratory irritation. Now, scientists need to conduct further research as the red tides and cyanobacterial toxin releases are occurring simultaneously.
'Together with our colleagues at the Miami Brain Endowment Bank, we have found that chronic dietary exposure of laboratory animals to the cyanobacterial toxin BMAA triggers early Alzheimer's and ALS neuropathology,' said Dr. Paul Alan Cox, the director of the Brain Chemistry Labs, 'but we cannot predict the health impacts of chronic exposures to multiple toxins at the same time.'
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