Bluegreen algae awareness increases after dogs’ deaths
DANBURY — The deaths of several dogs have catapulted the dangers of cyanobacteria into the public consciousness and even though none of those deaths were in Connecticut, the state is no exception for the increased awareness.
Cyanobacteria, or bluegreen algae, is believed to be the oldest kind of microorganism still living on the planet, but it’s really become better known in the past years because of the massive blooms that have popped up on lakes around the world, closing beaches for weeks and causing the deaths of dogs and human ailments.
Even though it was a calm summer for Connecticut in terms of blooms, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said it’s a growing concern for the public.
Officials also said there needs to be more resources invested in the problem as scientists and organizations around the world work to better understand and keep the blooms in check.
“With climate change, we’re expecting to see more of these blooms happen and across the world we’re going to see more of these blooms happen on both our lakes and our and oceans,” Tracy Lizotte, a DEEP environmental analyst, said at a recent lake symposium on this topic at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury.
She added that scientists are also seeing more dog deaths and human problems from the blooms.
Toxic troubles
Cyanobacteria tend to thrive off the light and nutrients in the water and so do best on hot days when the water is stagnant, which can also be factors for the blooms to become toxic. Not all cyanobacteria are genetically able to release toxins and even those that can don’t always do that.
Bluegreen algae are naturally occurring in Connecticut’s waters and are a key part of the food chain. The dangers come when they group together to form blooms and release toxins. The most frequent toxic symptom is skin irritation, although more serious symptoms, like vomiting, and liver or nervous system effects, can happen if ingested.
But that might not be the limit to the dangers.
“We don’t understand the longterm, low level effects of cyanobacteria,” said Edwin Wong, a WCSU associate professor studying the cyanobacteria’s toxins.
Some studies have shown that cyanobacteria may cause dementia or brain damage.
While Connecticut didn’t see the pea soup lakes like New Jersey did this summer it wasn’t immune to beach closures, which are generally done to protect public health when cyanobacteria blooms.
Kettletown State Park in Southbury was closed to swimmers for the whole season as a precaution, and was removed from the state’s weekly water testing program.
“It had closed every summer due to cyanobacteria in that cove,” said Chris Bellucci, a DEEP supervising environmental analyst. “Overall, the decision was made that it would probably occur every year, so we should not encourage people to swim there.”
Lizotte said the closures kept impacting the state because they had to refund people who wanted to camp at Kettletown during the past few years.
History of blooms
There weren’t any beach closures in the Danbury area this summer, in stark contrast to previous seasons.
“This year was an unusual year,” Lizotte said. “We didn’t see the toxins we usually do.”
All of the samples collected in the Danbury area were less than 1 part per billion this summer, Wong said. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s limit is now 8 parts per billion, up from the previous 4 parts per billion limit.
“That’s good news,” Wong said of this year’s numbers.
DEEP did get a call in June, though, for a bloom in a lake surrounded by forests. Lizotte thought it would be a regular algae bloom, which is natural for these types of lakes, but it actually ended up being a cyanobacteria one, which was not expected in that type of habitat.
Bloom have occurred in Connecticut’s lakes for centuries. But it wasn’t until the 2012 cyanobacteria blooms that the connection to possible dangers became more apparent — as well as the extent of the problem. The state looked to Vermont’s guidelines for beach closures and introduced its own guidelines the following year.
That was the same time Candlewood had its massive bloom and prompted the Candlewood Lake Authority to look into the issue. Larry Marsicano, who was the executive director at the time, reached out to WCSU to start its own monitoring and testing program.
Going forward
Bellucci said he would like the state to build up its lake monitoring program and hopes to partner with the lake authorities more, especially because many are already keeping an eye on their bodies of water.
“I think we would find that we have a lot of common interests and can help each other out,” he said.
The holy grail, he said, would be to have one online database that lake authorities, states and the federal government could all add data into and make it easier for the public to check on water quality.
In the meantime, people are grappling with what they can do to stop these blooms from happening.
Wong said algaecides might not be the best treatment method because his research shows the toxin is contained in the cell and can remain out of the water. However if the cyanobacteria is killed, then nothing is there to keep the toxin from entering the water.
DEEP and other lake officials instead say the best thing is to reduce the amount of nutrients entering the water.
This can be done with rain barrels, adding buffers along the water so the runoff can be filtered first, not having impervious surfaces and reducing the amount of fertilizer put on a lawn.
Another key piece is ensuring that septic systems are working and not leaking into the watershed.
Scientists are also still conducting numerous studies to learn more about the bluegreen algae.
“Every year we learn a little more,” Lizotte said.