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GLERL 2006 Milestone Reports
< GLERL 2006 Milestone main page
GOAL 1: Ecosystem
Scientist: Dr. Peter Landrum (GLERL)
NOAA Program: Ecosystem Research
NOAA Performance Objective: Improve the ecological health within regional coastal and marine ecosystems and assess socioeconomic benefits.
Ecosystem Research Program Performance Measure PM2: Number of new sustainable coastal, ocean, and Great Lakes Resources
OAR Performance Measure: Research to improve our understanding of the factors affecting ecosystems and the success of ecosystem approaches to management.
Milestone: Initial evaluation of the potential for human health impact through fish consumption will be completed (OAR/GLERL; Peter Landrum)
Purpose: Risk to human health due to harmful algal blooms has been recognized for years and that risk is attributed largely to eating shellfish in marine environments. In freshwater environments the problem is generally more associated with drinking the water. The harmful algae, Microcystis, produces a cyclic peptide toxin, microcystin. This toxin is a liver toxin and has been reported in the literature to produce liver cancer as well. The WHO sets the limit for ingestion of microcystin at 0.04 ug/kg/d. This work investigates the potential for chronic exposure to microcystin through fish consumption by measuring the concentration in fish muscle tissue.
Efforts and Results (to date): The methods for measuring microcystin in fish tissue were explored and refined for use at GLERL using ELISA as the method of measurement. Then fish of opportunity were collected from Lake Erie during the summer and fall of 2005. The muscle tissues and some liver tissues were analyzed for microcystin. This preliminary study examined microcystin concentrations in perch and walleye. Muscle tissue concentrations were found in the range of 0.03 to 0.45 ng g-1 in perch and 0.10 to 0.35 ng g-1 in walleye. The concentrations in liver tissue were much higher in the range of 9 ng g-1 in walleye and 33 ng g-1 in perch. The concentration of concern for consumption would need to be greater than or equal to 8 ng g-1. The finding of low concentrations in muscle tissue may have been due to the general absence of a large algal bloom in 2005.
Customer(s): General Public, state, and Federal regulatory agencies.
Cause Factors (if milestone not met): N/A
Revised Completion Date (if milestone not met): N/A
Last updated: 2006-07-07 mbl