Lake Erie’s Toxic Green Slime is Getting Worse With Climate Change

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/06082020/lake-erie-toxic-algae-climate-change

 

By Nicole Pollack

Aug 9, 2020

 

As the summer winds down, much of western Lake Erie stinks. Green goo—miles and miles of it—floats on the surface, emanating a smell like rotting fish as it decays.

The scum isn't just unpleasant. It's dangerous.

Harmful algal blooms are a health hazard in all 50 states. But Lake Erie, the shallowest, and therefore the warmest, of the five Great Lakes, is uniquely vulnerable to algal blooms. Like most other water bodies suffering from blooms, the lake is overloaded with nutrients, forming the perfect breeding ground for a bacteria known to poison pets, contaminate drinking water and create oxygen-deprived "dead zones" that kill aquatic life.

The lake's immediate future looks grim: the blooms are worsening with climate change, and pose a threat to tourism and recreation. But research into the lake's gunky plight is flourishing, and the findings are relevant worldwide. The blue-green "algae" smothering Erie, Microcystis—which is not really algae but a kind of photosynthetic bacteria—abounds in lakes on every continent except Antarctica.

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Exposure to cyanotoxins can cause anything from sore throats, headaches and exhaustion to severe symptoms such as vomiting, pneumonia and liver damage, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Though it was previously thought that exposure could only occur through waterborne contact, recent findings indicate that airborne cyanotoxins may be able to travel more than a mile inland.

"When you go to the beach and you're sitting or recreating in a lake that has these algae toxins, you can come home with those kinds of symptoms that just last for a day or two," said Anne Weir Schechinger, senior analyst in economics at the Environmental Working Group. "There's also been some more research lately showing these longer-term impacts, like liver failure, and even some cancers that are starting to be associated with these toxins. But I would still say that health research is still early."

Even if scum is present on a lake's surface, it could be non-toxic. But the reverse can also be true. While avoiding potentially toxic scum altogether is the safest move, Schechinger cautioned against assuming that it's safe to swim in rivers, lakes or ponds that appear algae-free.

"You don't necessarily see a scummy bloom. That doesn't mean there's not (toxin) in the water," she said.

A map of toxin advisories is available for Ohio's public beaches through the state Department of Health. Many other states provide similar resources. Schechinger recommends an online search for nearby algae toxin advisories and, if nothing comes up, a call to the state agency that monitors blooms.

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