Limited analytical capacity for cyanotoxins in developing countries may hide serious environmental health problems: Simple and affordable methods may be the answer
| Autor: | Macarena Pírez, Gualberto Gonzalez-Sapienza, Daniel Sienra, Graciela Ferrari, Michael Last, Jerold A. Last, Beatriz M. Brena |
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| Rok vydání: | 2013 |
| Předmět: |
Chlorophyll
Environmental Engineering Microcystins Harmful Algal Bloom Bacterial Toxins Developing country Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay Management Monitoring Policy and Law Cyanobacteria MEDIO AMBIENTE Rivers Environmental protection URUGUAY Environmental monitoring Developing Countries Waste Management and Disposal Recreation Environmental planning Risk management ALGAS Risk Management CIANOBACTERIAS Cyanobacteria Toxins business.industry Chlorophyll A fungi General Medicine Monitoring program Geography Agriculture Uruguay Marine Toxins Water Microbiology business Risk assessment Marine toxin Environmental Monitoring |
| Zdroj: | Repositorio digital del LATU Laboratorio Tecnológico del Uruguay instacron:Laboratorio Tecnológico del Uruguay |
| ISSN: | 0301-4797 |
| Popis: | In recent years, the international demand for commodities has prompted enormous growth in agriculture in most South American countries. Due to intensive use of fertilizers, cyanobacterial blooms have become a recurrent phenomenon throughout the continent, but their potential health risk remains largely unknown due to the lack of analytical capacity. In this paper we report the main results and conclusions of more than five years of systematic monitoring of cyanobacterial blooms in 20 beaches of Montevideo, Uruguay, on the Rio de la Plata, the fifth largest basin in the world. A locally developed microcystin ELISA was used to establish a sustainable monitoring program that revealed seasonal peaks of extremely high toxicity, more than one-thousand-fold greater than the WHO limit for recreational water. Comparison with cyanobacterial cell counts and chlorophyll-a determination, two commonly used parameters for indirect estimation of toxicity, showed that such indicators can be highly misleading. On the other hand, the accumulated experience led to the definition of a simple criterion for visual classification of blooms, that can be used by trained lifeguards and technicians to take rapid on-site decisions on beach management. The simple and low cost approach is broadly applicable to risk assessment and risk management in developing countries. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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