Harmful Algal Blooms Force Toledo To Ban Its Drinking Water

September 8, 2014- In August, 2014, algal blooms, common to Lake Erie and elsewhere, forced the city of Toledo, Ohio to enact a water ban, affecting more than 400,000 people.

In an August 3, 2014 online post, "Algae Toxins Prompt Toledo To Ban Its Drinking Water," National Public Radio (NPR) writes that Gov. John Kasich declared an emergency in the area, and asked the National Guard to make drinking water deliveries to Toledo, where officials say the tap water isn't safe to drink even if it has been boiled.

Here are the highlights of the NPR.com post, which includes reporting from Kabir Bhatia of member station WKSU:

• Algal blooms are common to Lake Erie, which supplies most of Toledo's water.

• The cause of the water ban: toxins that can cause flu-like symptoms, liver damage and skin rash.

• Toledo News Now reported that city officials told residents to avoid drinking and showering with the water and to make sure their children and pets stayed away from it as well.

• Toledo officials also said that boiling the water would actually increase the concentration of the toxins.

• When taken internally, the water has possible effects of abnormal liver function, diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, numbness and dizziness.

• Although the Environmental Protection Agency is trying to figure out what caused the sudden spike in toxins in this case, other harmful algal blooms have been traced to excess nitrogen and phosphorus present in lakes and streams from runoff of over-fertilized fields and lawns, from malfunctioning septic systems and from livestock pens.

• Such cyanobacteria may yield a range of toxins that can hurt humans' and animals' internal organs, central nervous systems, and skin. One of these types of toxins, cylindrospermopsin, has been detected in Lake Erie. A guide published by the EPA states that the primary toxic effect of cylindrospermopsin is irreversible damage to the liver.


Read the full NPR.org post here.

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