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Emerging Health Impacts of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) on Human...
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Emerging Health Impacts of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) on Human Health

A special issue of Toxins (ISSN 2072-6651). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine and Freshwater Toxins".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2021) | Viewed by 7503

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Thomas J. Knobloch

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Public Health Division of Environmental Health Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
Interests: the role of harmful algal blooms (HABs) on human health
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Public health is currently at the forefront of community concerns across the globe. Influences from the built environment, anthropogenic activities, and climate change continue to promote existing environmental issues and amplify emerging harmful environmental hazards, including harmful algal blooms (HABs). Weather predictions for 2020 anticipate higher than average temperatures across the US and globally. This trend continues conditions that promote oceanic warming and contributes to saltwater coastal blooms, while elevated temperatures exacerbate small freshwater inland lakes’ and ponds’ algal growth. In each water system, these conditions are linked with increased nutrient loading, eutrophication, and low available oxygen levels. These well-recognized risk factors drive HABs and magnify the potential health impacts of algal toxins on human wellness. The ecology, toxins, environmental triggers, and harmful health-associated outcomes attributed to HABs are diverse and complex and need to be robustly investigated using multidisciplinary approaches.

This Special Issue will present both the current state of the science for HABs as well as emerging concerns of algal toxins on human health. Algal toxins can behave as irritants, gastrointestinal inflammatory agents, neurotoxins, hepatotoxins, reproductive toxins, carcinogens, and cancer promoters. Health impacts range from modest cutaneous irritation, to gastrointestinal discomfort, to possible death, depending on the at-risk population, dose, and toxin exposure. In addition to direct influences on human health, HABs have indirect impact on food insecurity as a consequence of anthropogenic environmental drivers negatively affecting aquatic food resources.

Prof. Dr. Thomas J. Knobloch
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Toxins is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • harmful algal bloom
  • cyanotoxin
  • health
  • cancer
  • algal toxin
  • anthropogenic, climate change
  • food insecurity

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 3158 KiB  
Article
Exposure to Aerosolized Algal Toxins in South Florida Increases Short- and Long-Term Health Risk in Drosophila Model of Aging
by Jiaming Hu, Jiaqi Liu, Yi Zhu, Zoraida Diaz-Perez, Michael Sheridan, Haley Royer, Raymond Leibensperger III, Daniela Maizel, Larry Brand, Kimberly J. Popendorf, Cassandra J. Gaston and R. Grace Zhai
Toxins 2020, 12(12), 787; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins12120787 - 11 Dec 2020
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 4840
Abstract
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are a rising health and environmental concern in the United States, particularly in South Florida. Skin contact and the ingestion of contaminated water or fish and other seafood have been proven to have severe toxicity to humans in some [...] Read more.
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are a rising health and environmental concern in the United States, particularly in South Florida. Skin contact and the ingestion of contaminated water or fish and other seafood have been proven to have severe toxicity to humans in some cases. However, the impact of aerosolized HAB toxins is poorly understood. In particular, knowledge regarding either the immediate or long-term effects of exposure to aerosolized cyanotoxins produced by freshwater blue-green algae does not exist. The aim of this study was to probe the toxicity of aerosolized cyanobacterial blooms using Drosophila melanogaster as an animal model. The exposure of aerosolized HABs at an early age leads to the most severe long-term impact on health and longevity among all age groups. Young groups and old males showed a strong acute response to HAB exposure. In addition, brain morphological analysis using fluorescence imaging reveals significant indications of brain degeneration in females exposed to aerosolized HABs in early or late stages. These results indicate that one-time exposure to aerosolized HAB particles causes a significant health risk, both immediately and in the long-term. Interestingly, age at the time of exposure plays an important role in the specific nature of the impact of aerosol HABs. As BMAA and microcystin have been found to be the significant toxins in cyanobacteria, the concentration of both toxins in the water and aerosols was examined. BMAA and microcystin are consistently detected in HAB waters, although their concentrations do not always correlate with the severity of the health impact, suggesting the potential contribution from additional toxins present in the aerosolized HAB. This study demonstrates, for the first time, the health risk of exposure to aerosolized HAB, and further highlights the critical need and importance of understanding the toxicity of aerosolized cyanobacteria HAB particles and determining the immediate and long-term health impacts of HAB exposure. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Health Impacts of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) on Human Health)
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20 pages, 11375 KiB  
Article
Understanding the Differences in the Growth and Toxin Production of Anatoxin-Producing Cuspidothrix issatschenkoi Cultured with Inorganic and Organic N Sources from a New Perspective: Carbon/Nitrogen Metabolic Balance
by Siyi Tao, Suqin Wang, Lirong Song and Nanqin Gan
Toxins 2020, 12(11), 724; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins12110724 - 19 Nov 2020
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2297
Abstract
Cyanotoxins are the underlying cause of the threat that globally pervasive Cyanobacteria Harmful algal blooms (CyanoHABs) pose to humans. Major attention has been focused on the cyanobacterial hepatotoxin microcystins (MCs); however, there is a dearth of studies on cyanobacterial neurotoxin anatoxins. In this [...] Read more.
Cyanotoxins are the underlying cause of the threat that globally pervasive Cyanobacteria Harmful algal blooms (CyanoHABs) pose to humans. Major attention has been focused on the cyanobacterial hepatotoxin microcystins (MCs); however, there is a dearth of studies on cyanobacterial neurotoxin anatoxins. In this study, we explored how an anatoxin-producing Cuspidothrix issatschenkoi strain responded to culture with inorganic and organic nitrogen sources in terms of growth and anatoxins production. The results of our study revealed that ʟ- alanine could greatly boost cell growth, and was associated with the highest cell productivity, while urea significantly stimulated anatoxin production with the maximum anatoxin yield reaching 25.86 μg/mg dry weight, which was 1.56-fold higher than that in the control group (BG11). To further understand whether the carbon/nitrogen balance in C. issatschenkoi would affect anatoxin production, we explored growth and toxin production in response to different carbon/nitrogen ratios (C/N). Anatoxin production was mildly promoted when the C/N ratio was within low range, and significantly inhibited when the C/N ratio was within high range, showing approximately a three-fold difference. Furthermore, the transcriptional profile revealed that anaC gene expression was significantly up-regulated over 2–24 h when the C/N ratio was increased, and was significantly down-regulated after 96 h. Overall, our results further enriched the evidence that urea can stimulate cyanotoxin production, and ʟ-alanine could boost C. issatschenkoi proliferation, thus providing information for better management of aquatic systems. Moreover, by focusing on the intracellular C/N metabolic balance, this study explained the anatoxin production dynamics in C. issatschenkoi in response to different N sources. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Health Impacts of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) on Human Health)
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