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Why stop at Monitoring HABs? The search for cyanotoxin health guidance.
Citation:
JenkinsHill, D., J. Schmid, J. Lang, A. Farthing, AND N. Chernoff. Why stop at Monitoring HABs? The search for cyanotoxin health guidance. International Association for Great Lakes Research, Brockport, New York, June 10 - 14, 2019.
Impact/Purpose:
Microcystin (MC) is the most common cyanotoxin globally in freshwaters, yet there is limited animal toxicology that can be applied towards developing human health guidelines. This study compares the relative toxicity of eight of the more common MC congeners found in US freshwaters given orally to BALB/c mice at the same dose of 7mg/kg. Measurements of environmental MC are usually done with an ELISA test that gives total MC content (all congeners combined) which is converted into equivalents of the most common MC, MC-LR to assess the toxicity of the Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB). Our study found that MCLA is more toxic than MCLR and most of the eight congeners tested are significantly less toxic than MCLR. Also, the in vitro test predictions of relative toxicity of these congeners was not as expected. These results indicate a need to have a rapid measurement of specific MC congeners so HAB toxicity is not over- or under-estimated. This study was one of a series to provide information to EPA OW when considering human health advisories for MCs.
Description:
This product is an abstract submission as a proposal for a poster in the IAGLR 2019 (meeting information to follow).