This book describes the present state of knowledge regarding the impact of cyanobacteria on health through the use of water. It considers aspects of risk management and details the information needed for protecting drinking water sources and recreational water bodies from the health hazards caused by cyanobacteria and their toxins. It also outlines the state of knowledge regarding the principal considerations in the design of programmes and studies for monitoring water resources and supplies and describes the approaches and procedures used.
The development of this publication was guided by the recommendations of several expert meetings concerning drinking water (Geneva, December 1995; Bad Elster, June
1996) and recreational water (Bad Elster, June 1996; St Helier, May 1997). An expert meeting in Bad Elster, April 1997, critically reviewed the literature concerning the toxicity of cyanotoxins and developed the scope and content of this book. A draft manuscript was reviewed at an editorial meeting in November 1997, and a further draft was
reviewed by the working group responsible for updating the Guidelines for Drinkingwater Quality in March 1998.

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Toxic cyanobacteria in water: a guide to their public health consequences, monitoring and management.

Emerging recognition of two fundamental errors under-pinning past polices for natural resource issues heralds awareness of the need for a worldwide fundamental change in thinking and in practice of environmental management. The first error has been an implicit assumption that ecosystem responses to human use are linear, predictable and controllable. The second has been an assumption that human and natural systems can be treated independently. However, evidence that has been accumulating in diverse regions all over the world suggests that natural and social systems behave in nonlinear ways, exhibit marked thresholds in their dynamics, and that social-ecological systems act as strongly coupled, complex and evolving integrated systems. This article is a summary of a report prepared on behalf of the Environmental Advisory Council to the Swedish Government, as input to the process of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, South Africa in 26 August 4 September 2002. We use the concept of resilience—the capacity to buffer change, learn and develop—as a framework for understanding how to sustain and enhance adaptive capacity in a complex world of rapid transformations. Two useful tools for resilience-building in social-ecological systems are structured scenarios and active adaptive management. These tools require and facilitate a social context with flexible and open institutions and multi-level governance systems that allow for learning and increase adaptive capacity without foreclosing future development options.

https://bioone.org/journals/AMBIO-A-Journal-of-the-Human-Environment/volume-31/issue-5/0044-7447-31.5.437/Resilience-and-Sustainable-Development--Building-Adaptive-Capacity-in-a/10.1579/0044-7447-31.5.437.pdf

Resilience and sustainable development: building adaptive capacity in a world of transformations

Although algal blooms, including those considered toxic or harmful, can be natural phenomena, the nature of the global problem of harmful algal blooms (HABs) has expanded both in extent and its public perception over the last several decades. Of concern, especially for resource managers, is the potential relationship between HABs and the accelerated eutrophication of coastal waters from human activities. We address current insights into the relationships between HABs and eutrophication, focusing on sources of nutrients, known effects of nutrient loading and reduction, new understanding of pathways of nutrient acquisition among HAB species, and relationships between nutrients and toxic algae. Through specific, regional, and global examples of these various relationships, we offer both an assessment of the state of understanding, and the uncertainties that require future research efforts. The sources of nutrients poten- tially stimulating algal blooms include sewage, atmospheric deposition, groundwater flow, as well as agricultural and aquaculture runoff and discharge. On a global basis, strong correlations have been demonstrated between total phos- phorus inputs and phytoplankton production in freshwaters, and between total nitrogen input and phytoplankton pro- duction in estuarine and marine waters. There are also numerous examples in geographic regions ranging from the largest and second largest U.S. mainland estuaries (Chesapeake Bay and the Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine System), to the Inland Sea of Japan, the Black Sea, and Chinese coastal waters, where increases in nutrient loading have been linked with the development of large biomass blooms, leading to anoxia and even toxic or harmful impacts on fisheries re- sources, ecosystems, and human health or recreation. Many of these regions have witnessed reductions in phytoplankton biomass (as chlorophyll a) or HAB incidence when nutrient controls were put in place. Shifts in species composition have often been attributed to changes in nutrient supply ratios, primarily N:P or N:Si. Recently this concept has been extended to include organic forms of nutrients, and an elevation in the ratio of dissolved organic carbon to dissolved organic nitrogen (DOC:DON) has been observed during several recent blooms. The physiological strategies by which different groups of species acquire their nutrients have become better understood, and alternate modes of nutrition such as heterotrophy and mixotrophy are now recognized as common among HAB species. Despite our increased un- derstanding of the pathways by which nutrients are delivered to ecosystems and the pathways by which they are assimilated differentially by different groups of species, the relationships between nutrient delivery and the development of blooms and their potential toxicity or harmfulness remain poorly understood. Many factors such as algal species presence/ abundance, degree of flushing or water exchange, weather conditions, and presence and abundance of grazers contribute to the success of a given species at a given point in time. Similar nutrient loads do not have the same impact in different environments or in the same environment at different points in time. Eutrophication is one of several mechanisms by which harmful algae appear to be increasing in extent and duration in many locations. Although important, it is not the only explanation for blooms or toxic outbreaks. Nutrient enrichment has been strongly linked to stimulation of some harmful species, but for others it has not been an apparent contributing factor. The overall effect of nutrient over- enrichment on harmful algal species is clearly species specific.

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Harmful Algal Blooms and Eutrophication: Nutrient Sources, Composition, and Consequences

Communities of microscopic plant life, or phytoplankton, dominate the Earth's aquatic ecosystems. This important new book by Colin Reynolds covers the adaptations, physiology and population dynamics of phytoplankton communities in lakes and rivers and oceans. It provides basic information on composition, morphology and physiology of the main phyletic groups represented in marine and freshwater systems and in addition reviews recent advances in community ecology, developing an appreciation of assembly processes, co-existence and competition, disturbance and diversity. Although focussed on one group of organisms, the book develops many concepts relevant to ecology in the broadest sense, and as such will appeal to graduate students and researchers in ecology, limnology and oceanography.

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The Ecology of Phytoplankton

The rise of harmful cyanobacteria blooms: The potential roles of eutrophication and climate change

Species composition and diversity of phytoplankton were studied for several years in two lakes which differ with respect to mixing conditions and nutrient limitation: Schlachtensee regularly stratifies very stably In contrast, size and wind-exposure predispose Lake Tegel to deeper mixing; additionally, stratification is artificially destabilized by aeration As the duration of aeration was varied, the study period includes interannual changes in mixing conditions For both lakes, it also covers trophic change due to restoration; this was especially pronounced in Schlachtensee

Importance of intermediate disturbances for the species composition and diversity of phytoplankton in two very different Berlin lakes

Concern is widely being published that the occurrence of toxic cyanobacteria is increasing in consequence of climate change and eutrophication, substantially threatening human health. Here, we review evidence and pertinent publications to explore in which types of waterbodies climate change is likely to exacerbate cyanobacterial blooms; whether controlling blooms and toxin concentrations requires a balanced approach of reducing not only the concentrations of phosphorus (P) but also those of nitrogen (N); how trophic and climatic changes affect health risks caused by toxic cyanobacteria. We propose the following for further discussion: (i) Climate change is likely to promote blooms in some waterbodies—not in those with low concentrations of P or N stringently limiting biomass, and more so in shallow than in stratified waterbodies. Particularly in the latter, it can work both ways—rendering conditions for cyanobacterial proliferation more favourable or less favourable. (ii) While N emissions to the environment need to be reduced for a number of reasons, controlling blooms can definitely be successful by reducing only P, provided concentrations of P can be brought down to levels sufficiently low to stringently limit biomass. Not the N:P ratio, but the absolute concentration of the limiting nutrient determines the maximum possible biomass of phytoplankton and thus of cyanobacteria. The absolute concentrations of N or P show which of the two nutrients is currently limiting biomass. N can be the nutrient of choice to reduce if achieving sufficiently low concentrations has chances of success. (iii) Where trophic and climate change cause longer, stronger and more frequent blooms, they increase risks of exposure, and health risks depend on the amount by which concentrations exceed those of current WHO cyanotoxin guideline values for the respective exposure situation. Where trophic change reduces phytoplankton biomass in the epilimnion, thus increasing transparency, cyanobacterial species composition may shift to those that reside on benthic surfaces or in the metalimnion, changing risks of exposure. We conclude that studying how environmental changes affect the genotype composition of cyanobacterial populations is a relatively new and exciting research field, holding promises for understanding the biological function of the wide range of metabolites found in cyanobacteria, of which only a small fraction is toxic to humans. Overall, management needs case-by-case assessments focusing on the impacts of environmental change on the respective waterbody, rather than generalisations.

Cyanobacteria and Cyanotoxins in a Changing Environment: Concepts, Controversies, Challenges

1 Groundwater and public health Water-related disease remains one of the major health concerns in the World. Diarrhoeal diseases, which are largely derived from poor water and sanitation account for 2.4 million deaths each year and contribute over 73 million Disability Adjusted Life Years per annum (WHO, 1999). On a global scale, this places diarrhoeal disease sixth highest cause of mortality and third in the list of morbidity and it is estimated that 5.7 per cent of the global disease burden is derived from poor water, sanitation and hygiene (Prüss et al., 2002). This health burden is primarily borne by the populations in developing countries and by children. At 2002 estimates, one-sixth of humanity (1.1 billion people) lack access to any form of improved water supply within 1 kilometre of their home and one-fifth of humanity (2.6 billion people) lack access to some form of improved excreta disposal (WHO and UNICEF, 2004). These figures relate to the clear definitions provided in the updated Global Water Supply and Sanitation Assessment Report and are shown in Table 1.1 below. Table 1.1. Definition of improved and unimproved water supply and sanitation facilities (WHO and UNICEF, 2004). Water supply Sanitation Improved Unimproved Improved Unimproved Household connection Unprotected well Connection to a public sewer Public standpipe Unprotected spring Connection to a septic system Service or bucket latrines (where excreta removed manually) Boreholes Vendor-provided water Pour-flush latrine Public latrines Protected dug well Bottled water Simple pit latrine Latrines with an open pit Protected spring Tanker-truck provided water Ventilated improved pit latrine Rainwater collection If the quality of water or sanitation were taken into account, these numbers of people without access to water supplies and sanitation would increase even further. Endemic and epidemic disease derived from poor water supply affects all nations. Outbreaks of waterborne disease continue to occur in both developed and developing countries, leading to loss of life, avoidable disease and economic costs to individuals and communities. The improvement of water quality control strategies, in conjunction with improvements in excreta disposal and personal hygiene can be expected to deliver substantial health gains in the population. This book provides information on strategies for the protection of groundwater sources used for drinking water as a component of an integrated approach to drinking-water safety management (WHO, 2004; Davison et al., 2004). The importance of source protection as the first stage of managing water quality has been an important …

Groundwater and public health

 The natural protection of groundwater (GW) in the Jeita catchment is insufficient.  Numerous pollution sources exist in the GW catchment.  Groundwater protection zones are used worldwide to reduce the risk of pollution.  The zoning scheme (zones 1-3) depends on the travel time in GW and the risk of contamination at the drinking water source to be protected.  A set of different landuse restrictions are imposed in the delineated zones.  A control mechanism is required (environmental police).

Ingrid Chorus

Papers

Importance of intermediate disturbances for the species composition and diversity of phytoplankton in two very different Berlin lakes

Cyanobacteria and Cyanotoxins in a Changing Environment: Concepts, Controversies, Challenges

Groundwater and public health

Groundwater protection zones.

Water and phosphorus mass balance of Lake Tegel and Schlachtensee - a modelling approach.