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.

(2002). The Effects of Harmful Algal Blooms on Aquatic Organisms. Reviews in Fisheries Science: Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 113-390.

The Effects of Harmful Algal Blooms on Aquatic Organisms

Increasingly, harmful algal blooms (HABs) are being reported worldwide due to several factors, primarily eutrophication, climate change and more scientific monitoring. All but cyanobacteria toxin poisonings (CTPs) are mainly a marine occurrence. CTPs occur in fresh (lakes, ponds, rivers and reservoirs) and brackish (seas, estuaries, and lakes) waters throughout the world. Organisms responsible include an estimated 40 genera but the main ones are Anabaena, Aphanizomenon, Cylindrospermopsis, Lyngbya, Microcystis, Nostoc, and Oscillatoria (Planktothrix). Cyanobacteria toxins (cyanotoxins) include cytotoxins and biotoxins with biotoxins being responsible for acute lethal, acute, chronic and sub-chronic poisonings of wild/domestic animals and humans. The biotoxins include the neurotoxins; ana-toxin-a, anatoxin-a(s) and saxitoxins plus the hepatotoxins; microcystins, nodularins and cylindrospermopsins. Confirmations of human deaths from cyanotoxins are limited to exposure through renal dialysis at a haemodialys...

Health Effects of Toxin-Producing Cyanobacteria: “The CyanoHABs”

The first evidence of paralytic shellfish toxins in the freshwater cyanobacterium Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii, isolated from Brazil

Cyanobacterial toxins, the perception of water quality, and the prioritisation of eutrophication control

Isolation and toxicity of Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii from an ornamental lake

Water and other natural resources of Bung Boraphet Wetland in Thailand have been under increasing pressure from over-exploitation. Sustainable management and ‘wise-use’ of the Wetland’s resources require achieving a balance between economic exploitation and conservation. Scientifically based decision support tools are vital to gain better insights into the complex interactions between the large wetland system, its contributing catchment and floodplain, and then pave the way for planning effective long-term management. This paper presents a summary of several decision support tools that we developed for Bung Boraphet. The tools are: (a) Water budget predictive model, (b) Land-use analysis using satellite imagery, and (c) Database linked Geographic Information System. From a review of literature and field studies, we identified the factors, which are having the most serious impacts on long-term sustainability of Bung Boraphet. We also conducted field studies to collect primary data on hydrological parameters on the lake between December 2002 and May 2006. These, and available secondary data, were then used to develop a model for the daily water budget of the Wetland. Model calculations and observed water levels are highly correlated for this period, proving the veracity of the model. Evaporation loss of water is a critical factor during the dry seasons (~ 41% loss), as is extraction for irrigated rice grown in encroached areas around the lake (~55% loss). The modeling tool allows the analysis of different water use scenarios. For instance, the model forecasts that even if the weir height is raised by 0.5 m to the level of +24.5 m (MSL), as has been suggested by some stakeholders, irrigation water abstraction has to be reduced by 35 % of the current consumption, to maintain the recommended minimum water level (+23 m, MSL) for sustainable fishery. Insights into land use change in the surrounding catchment and lake were gained by a series of Landsat 5 satellite imagery. A comparison of imagery shows that between 1993 and 2003, the irrigated area surrounding the lake doubled. At the same time, the submerged and emergent vegetation in the lake declined by 50%. The database linked GIS, which was developed, includes meteorological data and primary and/or secondary data on hydrology, water quality, and biodiversity of the lake and its catchments, and covers the main rivers and their tributaries. Information from applying the decision support tools has stimulated discussions with key stakeholders, identifying the ‘wetland values’, which need protection, and the economic, environmental, and social goals that need to be met by a future Plan of Management. As discussed in this paper, we have made a significant difference to the nature of the discourse in progress regarding managing Bung Boraphet by demonstrating the value of basing wetland management decisions on scientific grounds. The POM, which is being developed, is expected to receive multiple stakeholder support, so that Bung Boraphet’s resources can be sustained for the use by present and future generations.

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Decision Support Tools for Water Resource Management:A Case Study of Bung Boraphet Wetland, Thailand

Capillary Electrophoresis (CE) is regarded as a powerful analytical tool that combines many advantages of modern liquid chromatography (HPLC) with those of electrophoresis. The major advantages are: (a) high efficiency (related to decreased zone-broadening in a capillary column, fully automated instrumentation, on-line detection connected to computers supported by high efficiency software for rapid data acquisition, analysis, display, and storage,); (b) analysis speed (usually in the rage of 3-10 minutes for a complete separation); (c) operational simplicity (i.e. no pumps, column seals, guard columns or large quantities of organic solvent); (d) low to very low sample volume requirements (usually 10-15 nL of submitted sample); (e) applicability to polar and non-polar substances equally well with very little modifications; and (f) accuracy and precision in quantitative results. Among major drawback of CE is short optical length of capillary which causes a raising of detection limits. However, detection limits of an application may be improved by either improved clean-up procedures, pre-concentration of the sample, by adjustment of (larger) injection volume, or by special separation techniques such as on-column sample stacking. Paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) is a severe form of seafood poisoning, which results from the ingestion of the filter –feeding shellfish which contaminated with neurotoxins. At least 18 PSP toxins, which include saxitoxin (STX) and neosaxitoxin (NEO), a complex suite of sulfate and N-sulfate analogies, and their decarbamoyl derivatives, have been identified mainly produced by marine dinoflagellates and accumulated in the shellfish. The PSP toxins are poisonous because of their high-affinity binding to the sodium-ion channel of nerve cell membranes. This interferes with the propagation of electrical impulses along nerve fibres, causing muscular paralysis and death by respiratory failure. In CE, separation of analytes relies on the difference of movement of molecules under the influence of an electrical field, which means the technique is most suited for separation of charged molecules. As many of the neurotoxic paralytic shellfish poisons (PSP toxins) are charged molecules, CE has a high potential as a separation technique for their analysis in water or other matrices. Although these compounds do not contain a chromophore with significant absorptivity in the wavelength range 220-500 nm, the high sensitivity of CE combined with a UV detector (CE-UV) or a diode array detector (CE-DAD) permits detection limits of part per million levels. Development of CE-based analytical procedures to characterise and quantify neurotoxins is attractive to water industry, particularly to supplement currently available HPLC methods.

Nimal Chandrasena

Papers

Isolation and toxicity of Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii from an ornamental lake

Decision Support Tools for Water Resource Management:A Case Study of Bung Boraphet Wetland, Thailand

A method for determination of paralytic shellfish poisons in water by capillary electrophoresis