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

Water Policy ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 919-932 ◽  
Author(s):  
James S. Metcalf ◽  
Sandra Anne Banack ◽  
James T. Powell ◽  
Fiona J. M. Tymm ◽  
Susan J. Murch ◽  
...  

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.

2013 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Arifur Rahman ◽  
Abdur Rahim ◽  
Nur-E-Alam Siddique ◽  
AM Shafiqul Alam

The concentration of lead, iron and potassium were determined in suspended particulates matters (SPM) in the atmosphere Dhaka, Bangladesh between January and June, 2008. The sampling areas are Khandakar Mukarram Hossain Biggan Bhaban, University of Dhaka, Tejgaon, Hazaribagh, Uttara and Agargaon new colony. The average concentrations of TSP, PM10 and PM2.5 were 68, 43 and 35 ?g m-3, respectively. About 82% particles were from fine fraction (PM2.5) and 18% were from coarse fraction (PM10-2.5), which indicates mechanical processes are one of the main sources for the particulate matters in air of Dhaka. The concentration of lead, iron and potassium were determined by using atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) for the size fraction of PM10 with highest concentrations recorded for iron (10.8 ?g/m3) and lowest for lead (0.10 ?g/m3). The average concentration of NOx, O3 and SOx with eight hours sampling were 82.8, 22.5 and 25.5 ?g/m3 respectively. This study revealed that the concentrations of Pb, K, Fe, CO, NOx, O3 and SOx in Dhaka City were higher than the WHO (World Health Organization) guideline values. Dhaka Univ. J. Sci. 61(1): 41-46, 2013 (January) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/dujs.v61i1.15094


2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chrisna Adhi Suryono

Pesatnya perkembangan industri dan aktivitas domestic di daerah pantai utara Jawa mendorong untuk perlunya dilakukan penelitian tentang kemungkinan adanya pencemaran logam Arsen (As) di akifer dangkal kota-kota Jakarta, Semarang dan Surabaya. Sebanyak 30 contoh air dari sumur-sumur yang berasal dari zona pemukiman di daerah pesisir dianalisis kandungan logam As dengan menggunakan teknik Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). Hasil analisis menunjukkan adanya kandungan logam As sebesar 59.65 μg L−1 di Jakarta. Rerata dan simpangan baku dari logam As di Jakarta, Semarang and Surabaya adalah 15.47 ± 18.79, 1.25 ± 2.05 and 0.59 ± 0.26 μgL-1. Terdapat korelasi yang nyata antara logam As dan Fe di airtanah. Dari hasil ini dapat disimpulkan bahwa tingkat kandungan logam As dan Fe di daerah akifer pantai utara Jawa masih berada di bawah ambang yang dipersyaratkan oleh Indonesian Drinking & Domestic Water Quality Standard for Ground Water and WHO’s (World Health Organization) Guideline Values for Drinking Water, kecuali untuk stasion 5 dan 6 dari Jakarta.Kata kunci: Arsen (As), AAS, akifer pantaiA study was conducted to assess the Arsenic (As) metal contamination of the shallow aquifers in Jakarta, Semarang, and Surabaya city of Java and its relation to the highly developed industrial and domestic activities in the coastal region. Arsen was assayed in the waters of 30 wells throughout the terrestrial cities, in residential zones using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) technique. Analysis of the As level revealed that high As contents were found primarily in Jakarta, to a maximum of 59.65 μg L−1. The mean and standard deviation of As in Jakarta, Semarang and Surabaya were 15.47 ± 18.79, 1.25 ± 2.05 and 0.59 ± 0.26 μgL-1, respectively. The groundwater As concentration shows a correlation with Fe significantly. It was concluded that the levels of As in some investigated 3 Indonesian metropolis cities were below the maximum allowable concentrations of metals recommended by Indonesian Drinking & Domestic Water Quality Standard for Ground Water and WHO’s (World Health Organization)Guideline Values for Drinking Water, except for station 5 and 6 of Jakarta.Keywords: Arsenic (As), AAS, coastal aquifer


2001 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Tarczyńska ◽  
Z. Romanowska-Duda ◽  
T. Jurczak ◽  
M. Zalewski

Eutrophication of reservoirs used for drinking water supplies is a very common problem, particularly in lowland reservoirs. Long water retention time (60-120 days) favours cyanobacterial bloom occurrence in Sulejów Reservoir, Poland. The localisation of the water intake in a bay exposed to north-east winds favoured the Microcystis bloom accumulation, which formed a 0.5 m thick dense scum for the first time in September 1999. Cyanobacterial hepatotoxins can pose a potential health problem because the presence of about 0.8 μg/l microcystins was detected in drinking water during three series of analysis. An investigation of the efficiency of each stage of water treatment processes in the elimination of microcystins showed that pre-chlorination, coagulation, and rapid sand filtration were ineffective in removing microcystins from water. Significant elimination was observed after ozonation and chlorination. The concentration of microcystins in bloom material was between 12 to 860 μg/g dry weight of phytoplankton biomass. Management strategies for reservoirs should consider the important role of ecohydrological processes, which are often very easy to regulate, and which can be useful for bio-manipulation of the water ecosystem.


Author(s):  
Egide Kalisa ◽  
Stephen Archer ◽  
Edward Nagato ◽  
Elias Bizuru ◽  
Kevin Lee ◽  
...  

Aerosolized particulate matter (PM) is a complex mixture that has been recognized as the greatest cause of premature human mortality in low- and middle-income countries. Its toxicity arises largely from its chemical and biological components. These include polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their nitro-derivatives (NPAHs) as well as microorganisms. In Africa, fossil fuel combustion and biomass burning in urban settings are the major sources of human exposure to PM, yet data on the role of aerosols in disease association in Africa remains scarce. This review is the first to examine studies conducted in Africa on both PAHs/NPAHs and airborne microorganisms associated with PM. These studies demonstrate that PM exposure in Africa exceeds World Health Organization (WHO) safety limits and carcinogenic PAHs/NPAHs and pathogenic microorganisms are the major components of PM aerosols. The health impacts of PAHs/NPAHs and airborne microbial loadings in PM are reviewed. This will be important for future epidemiological evaluations and may contribute to the development of effective management strategies to improve ambient air quality in the African continent.


2018 ◽  
Vol 106 (10) ◽  
pp. 819-829 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akbar Abbasi

Abstract Radium-228 (228Ra) and Radium-226 (226Ra) isotopes in drinking water are significant from the aspect of radiation protection and human health. In this paper, the three most common preconcentration methods, i.e.coprecipitation, absorption and evaporation, were reviewed with emphasis on routinely measurement techniques. The reviewed measurement techniques include low background γ-spectrometry, α-spectrometry and liquid scintillation counting. The γ-spectrometry technique is the good selection, when the maximum sensitivity is considered. The Environmental Protection Agency guideline has provided the maximum concentration level 0.74 Bq/L for 226Ra and 228Ra. Also, the World Health Organization guideline limit is 1 Bq/L and 0.1 Bq/L for 226Ra and 228Ra, respectively.


Author(s):  
Alexandra Viana Silva ◽  
Cristina M. Oliveira ◽  
Nuno Canha ◽  
Ana Isabel Miranda ◽  
Susana Marta Almeida

Understanding air pollution in urban areas is crucial to identify mitigation actions that may improve air quality and, consequently, minimize human exposure to air pollutants and their impact. This study aimed to assess the temporal evolution of the air quality in the city of Setúbal (Portugal) during a time period of 10 years (2003–2012), by evaluating seasonal trends of air pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, O3, NO, NO2 and NOx) measured in nine monitoring stations. In order to identify emission sources of particulate matter, PM2.5 and PM2.5–10 were characterized in two different areas (urban traffic and industrial) in winter and summer and, afterwards, source apportionment was performed by means of Positive Matrix Factorization. Overall, the air quality has been improving over the years with a decreasing trend of air pollutant concentration, with the exception of O3. Despite this improvement, levels of PM10, O3 and nitrogen oxides still do not fully comply with the requirements of European legislation, as well as with the guideline values of the World Health Organization (WHO). The main anthropogenic sources contributing to local PM levels were traffic, industry and wood burning, which should be addressed by specific mitigation measures in order to minimize their impact on the local air quality.


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