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.

/pdf/toxic-cyanobacteria-in-water-a-guide-to-their-public-health-2y64v55hv1.pdf

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

For decades, studies of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) have challenged traditional concepts in toxicology, in particular the dogma of “the dose makes the poison,” because EDCs can have effects at low doses that are not predicted by effects at higher doses. Here, we review two major concepts in EDC studies: low dose and nonmonotonicity. Low-dose effects were defined by the National Toxicology Program as those that occur in the range of human exposures or effects observed at doses below those used for traditional toxicological studies. We review the mechanistic data for low-dose effects and use a weight-of-evidence approach to analyze five examples from the EDC literature. Additionally, we explore nonmonotonic dose-response curves, defined as a nonlinear relationship between dose and effect where the slope of the curve changes sign somewhere within the range of doses examined. We provide a detailed discussion of the mechanisms responsible for generating these phenomena, plus hundreds of examples from...

/pdf/hormones-and-endocrine-disrupting-chemicals-low-dose-effects-2vn32zoqc8.pdf

Hormones and endocrine-disrupting chemicals: Low-dose effects and nonmonotonic dose responses

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

Experimental Neurology By Prof Paul Glees Pp xii + 532 (Oxford: Clarendon Press; London: Oxford University Press, 1961) 75s net

The Nervous System

Cyanobacteria secondary metabolites--the cyanotoxins.

Model species (e.g., granivorous gamebirds, waterfowl, passerines, domesticated rodents) have been used for decades in guideline laboratory tests to generate survival, growth and reproductive data for prospective Ecological Risk Assessments (ERAs) for birds and mammals, while officially adopted risk assessment schemes for amphibians and reptiles do not exist. There are recognized shortcomings of current in vivo methods as well as uncertainty around the extent to which species with different life histories (e.g., terrestrial amphibians, reptiles, bats) than these commonly used models are protected by existing ERA frameworks. Approaches other than validating additional animal models for testing are being developed, but incorporation of such new approach methodologies (NAMs) into risk assessment frameworks will require robust validations against in vivo responses. This takes time, and the ability to extrapolate findings from non-animal studies to organism- and population-level effects in terrestrial wildlife remains weak. Failure to adequately anticipate and predict hazards could have economic and potentially even legal consequences for regulators and product registrants. In order to be able to use fewer animals or replace them altogether in the long-term, vertebrate use and whole organism data will be needed to provide data for NAMs validation in the short term. Therefore, it is worth investing resources for potential updates to existing standard test guidelines used in the laboratory as well as addressing the need for clear guidance on conduct of field studies. Herein we review the potential for improving standard in vivo test methods and for advancing the use of field studies in wildlife risk assessment, as these tools will be needed into the foreseeable future.

Val R. Beasley

Papers

Toxicological Effects Assessment for Wildlife in the 21st Century: Review of Current Methods and Recommendations for a Path Forward.