CAPE CORAL, Fla. — Local researchers started sampling the air Friday to determine how much of the blue-green algae toxins residents are breathing in.
They’re putting four filtering devices throughout Cape Coral, where harmful algal blooms traveled through canals in 2018. They’ll collect them in a couple weeks and analyze them.
Dr. Mike Parsons of Florida Gulf Coast University is leading the study in Southwest Florida.
“We’re looking for the cyanotoxins, if they are present, and at what levels they’re present,” he said.
Parsons’ team has found cyanotoxins, or toxins produced by blue-green algae in the air before. Now with the help of a $200,000 grant from the Florida Department of Health they can see how those toxins affect human health.
Council member Jessica Cosden said Cape Coral has the most canals in the world, stretching 400 miles. So, this is the best place for researchers to start.
“We’re lucky that we’re kind of ground zero for this research. It’s new, it’s groundbreaking. And we’re going to see for real what the health impact is of blue-green algae is on humans,” she said.
People living along canals have mentioned difficulty breathing while harmful algal blooms were present. Dr. Parsons mentioned half a dozen dogs died last year after bloom exposure, but this research will focus on the long-term health effects those toxins could have on people.
“The other concern will be chronic level exposure, and that’s where it can lead to things like non-alcoholic liver disease. There’s some concern with BMAA being produced and how that would relate to neurodegenerative diseases,” said Dr. Parsons.
He said the blue-green algae produces that BMAA toxin that’s linked to diseases that attack the nervous system like ALS and other toxins that could lead to liver disease. But now they’re working to find out how much of those toxins you’re breathing in.
“Can we detect the toxins or metabolized toxins? So, did it already move through your body and did our enzymes associated with our liver, did they start to break down the toxins?” he asked.
Next, his team will study the health of 20-50 volunteers for a few years to see how far if at all these airborne toxins are getting into their bodies. Parsons said they also plan to put devices in Clewiston and on the east coast.
