Algal Toxins and Water Quality

Freshwater and marine harmful algal blooms (HABs) can occur anytime water use is impaired due to excessive accumulations of algae. In freshwater, the majority of HABs are caused by cyanobacteria (also called blue-green algae). Cyanobacteria cause a multitude of water-quality concerns, including the potential to produce taste-and-odor causing compounds and toxins that are potent enough to poison animals and humans. Taste-and-odor compounds and toxins are of particular concern in lakes, reservoirs, and rivers that are used for either drinking-water supplies or full body contact recreation. Taste-and-odor compounds cause malodorous or unpalatable drinking water and fish, resulting in increased treatment costs and loss of aquacultural and recreational revenue. Cyanobacterial toxins (cyanotoxins) have been implicated in human and animal illness and death in over fifty countries worldwide, including at least 35 U.S. States. Human toxicoses associated with cyanotoxins have most commonly occurred after exposure through drinking water or recreational activities. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists are involved in the following activities:

Algal Toxin Studies

• USGS Kansas Algal Toxin Research Team
• USGS CoreCast: Slimy Summer Swimming: Harmful Algal Blooms in Lakes, Rivers and Streams (Podcast)
• Harmful Algal Blooms, USGS Multimedia Gallery
• The Cheney Reservoir and Watershed Study
• USGS Studies in the Klamath Basin, Oregon and California
• An Assessment of the Occurrence, Fate, and Effects of Cyanotoxins in the Upper Klamath Lake, OR: Are Endangered Lost River Sucker Populations at Risk?
• Cyanobacteria, Microbiology and the Environment
• Toxic “Red Tide” Populations in the Western Gulf of Maine: Sources, Transport, and Nutrient Environment

Fact Sheets

• Algal Toxins in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon: Linking Water Quality to Juvenile Sucker Health: USGS Fact Sheet 2009–3111
• Monitoring Indicators of Harmful Cyanobacteria in Texas: USGS Fact Sheet 2008-3009

USGS Algal Related Studies and Information

• Studies
• Geologic Framework and Processes of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin
• Imagery of the 1997 Algal Bloom
• Satellite Imagery: Lake Pontchartrain Basin and Gulf of Mexico
• Scientists Go Deep to Track Algae-Feeding Nitrogen in Washington State's Hood Canal
• Klamath River Watershed, Oregon and California
• Water Quality Conditions in Upper Klamath and Agency Lakes, Oregon, 2006: Scientific Investigations Report 2008–5201
• Water Quality Conditions in Upper Klamath and Agency Lakes, Oregon, 2005: Scientific Investigations Report 2008–5026
• Water-Quality and Algal Conditions in the North Umpqua River Basin, Oregon, 1992–95, and Implications for Resource Management: USGS Water-Resources Investigations Report 98-4125
• Limnological Conditions in Lake William C. Bowen and Municipal Reservoir #1, Spartanburg County, South Carolina, August to September 2005, May 2006, and October 2006: USGS Open-File Report 2008-1268
• Methods and Protocols
• Cyanobacteria in Lakes and Reservoirs: Toxin and Taste-and-Odor Sampling Guidelines: USGS Techniques of Water-Resources Investigations, book 9, chap. A7, section 7.5
• Algal Toxins, in Field manual of wildlife diseases--General field procedures and diseases of birds: USGS Information and Technology Report 1999-0001
• Protocols for the Analysis of Algal Samples Collected as Part of the U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment Program: The Academy of Natural Sciences Report No. 02-06
• General Information
• Eutrophication Definition, USGS Toxic Substances Hydrology Program
• Algal Blooms: USGS Science Topics

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U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://health.usgs.gov/dw_contaminants/algal_toxins.html
Page Contact Information: Herb Buxton
Page Last Modified: 13-Sep-2010@14:45