Killed by algae?

There have been some suggestions in the British media over recent days that the widespread blue green algae outbreaks in lakes around that country has resulted in the death of a person.

This report from the BBC summarises the story:

The death of a man whose body was found in a pond with a toxic algae outbreak is "not being treated as suspicious", police say.

Maciej Dymowski, 23, was found in the water at Ashby Ville in Scunthorpe on Monday.

Last week, visitors were warned by North Lincolnshire Council of the dangers of swimming in the pond because of the blue green algae outbreak.

Humberside Police said it had prepared a file for the coroner.

The local council had declare that the pond was toxic on the 18th of July, and apparently there were warning signs around the pond. Judging by the name of the deceased, however, it is possible that the man who died may have been from a non-English speaking background, and thus he may have not fully understood the danger.

It remains to be determined if the blue green algae killed the man in question, however it is certainly plausible, as there have been many reports of dogs dying as a result of exposure to blue-green algae over recent weeks, not just in Britain but in a number of other northern hemisphere countries, including the US and Canada.

The toxins produced by some cyanobacteria can produce toxin that affect the nervous system, and can lead to suffocation, as noted in this Canadian report about blue-green algae contamination in that country yesterday.

In a similar vein, a report from the US earlier this week noted that toxic algae in the St Lucie River in Florida had resulted in the hospitalisation of 15 people.

The St Lucie River flows through to Lake Okeechobee, mentioned here in an earlier post, and this lake appears to be the source of the algae contamination in the river.

The article quotes an expert from the local hospital, Dr Michael Romano, who notes that the long term health impact of the blue-green algae on people living in the vicinity of the contaminated water is unknown.

"We don't know how many people are affected by the algae blooms and how badly," he said. "And that's the point. I don't want to scare people, but they need to know what the blooms are doing to them. Millions of people potentially could be exposed to this, and we don't know much about it."

It does highlight that blue-green algae contaminated water bodies represents a significant danger to health of humans living nearby, but unfortunately it seems that all too often governments in affected localities seem to have a 'false economy' mindset, worrying about saving a few pennies in the short term and overlooking the possible long term health impact on the local communities.