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Title

Blue-Green Algae Toxins in Washington Lakes: Screening Fish Tissue for Microcystins and Anatoxin-a

 
Publication number Date Published
10-03-011March 2010
VIEW NOW Blue-Green Algae Toxins in Washington Lakes: Screening Fish Tissue for Microcystins and Anatoxin-a (Number of pages: 49) (Publication Size: 1048KB)




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Author(s) Johnson, A.
Description Consumption of fish containing blue-green algae toxins represents a poorly-studied, but potentially important, exposure route for humans. Microcystins and anatoxin-a are toxins of particular concern.

The Washington State Department of Ecology conducted a screening survey to assess the presence of microcystins and anatoxin-a in muscle and liver tissue from fish in six Western Washington lakes that had blue-green blooms in 2008. Microcystins were detected in all samples, with higher concentrations in liver than muscle. Anatoxin-a was not detected.

Follow-up study is recommended to obtain higher quality microcystin data that can be used to better assess the human health risk. Anatoxin-a may be too unstable to accumulate or is simply not taken up by fish.
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Keywords anatoxin-a, microcystin, toxin, WRIA 12, lakes, fish, water, WRIA 17, Ecology, toxic, algae
WATERSHED Water Resource Inventory Areas
(WRIA 03,WRIA 12,WRIA 17)
RELATED PUBLICATIONS Title:

Microcystins and Other Blue-Green Algae Toxins Analyzed in Fish and Sediments from Washington Lakes

Quality Assurance Project Plan: Blue-Green Algae Toxins in Fish and Sediment from Washington Lakes: Microcystins and Saxitoxin

Quality Assurance Project Plan: Screening for Blue-Green Algae Toxins in Lake Fish Tissues.