Red tides in the sea and bright green lakes and rivers are becoming features of our degraded world environment. These events, caused by algae and the toxins they produce, are often associated with poisoning of people or livestock resulting in injury to health and economic loss.This volume provides definitive information on the identification of toxin marine and freshwater algae, the routine analysis and effects of algal toxins, their veterinary and public health impact, and on control measures in current use.Professionals in the food and water industry, and those working in public health and environmental ecology will find this book extremely useful.

The increasingly widespread production of toxins by marine and freshwater microalgae raises serious concerns regarding seafood and drinking water safety. This book compiles studies on the influence of climate change on the spreading of toxin-producing species in aquatic systems. The chemistry and biology of toxin production is revised and an outlook on control and prevention of the toxins' impact on human and animal health is given.

Harmful Algal Blooms: A Compendium Desk Reference erläutert die Grundlagen der schädlichen Algenblüte (HAB) und bietet die notwendigen technischen Informationen, wenn es um unerwartete oder unbekannte schädliche Ereignisse in Zusammenhang mit Algen geht. Dieses Fachbuch behandelt die Gründe für die schädliche Algenblüte, erfolgreiche Management- und Monitoring-Programme, Kontroll-, Präventions- und Minderungsstrategien, die wirtschaftlichen Folgen, Gesundheitsrisiken sowie die Folgen für die Nahrungskette und Ökosysteme. Darüber hinaus bietet es ausführliche Informationen zu den häufigsten HAB-Arten. Harmful Algal Blooms: A Compendium Desk Reference ist ein unschätzbares Referenzwerk für Manager, Einsteiger in das Fachgebiet, Praktiker mit eingeschränkten Zugang zu wissenschaftlicher Literatur und alle, die schnell Zugriff auf Informationen benötigen, insbesondere vor dem Hintergrund neuartiger oder unerwarteter HAB-Ereignisse. Die drei Herausgeber gehören zu den weltweit führenden Forschern auf dem Fachgebiet. Führende Experten haben ebenfalls zu diesem Fachbuch beigetragen, das sich zu einem wichtigen Referenzwerk des Fachgebiets entwickeln wird, zumal das Thema immer mehr an Bedeutung gewinnt.

Cyanobacterial abundance has increased disproportionately, and this trend is likely to continue in the coming decades. This increase not only has deleterious effects on ecosystem biodiversity but also adversely affects drinking water supplies, livestock watering, crop yields, aquaculture, etc. Thus, the proliferation of cyanobacterial blooms presents human and animal health risks due to the common production of potent toxins, cyanotoxins. Moreover, these risks are aggravated by the accumulation potential of cyanotoxins and their transference to the food chain. In spite of the worldwide increasing occurrence of cyanotoxins, they are still underestimated in regulations. However, risk management of cyanotoxins is only possible after a thorough risk evaluation, and for that purpose, toxicity and exposure data are required. Thus, occurrence and monitoring information is of key importance, and new data in relation to the conditions that favor cyanobacterial growth and cyanotoxin production are welcome in order to prevent their appearance. On the other hand, in regard to toxicity, there are still many data gaps to fill. This book compiles 10 research papers and a review, which provide valuable contributions on all these aspects and demonstrate the importance of cyanobacteria toxins research.

Toxic cyanobacteria (blue green algae) have now been reported in 27 countries and are found on all continents including Antarctica. Drinking water authorities world-wide are faced with the challenge of treating contaminated water or the possibility of a toxic bloom occurring sometime in the future. This tailored collaboration project was to provide the international drinking water industry with information to facilitate the confident application of viable treatment techniques for cyanotoxins. Assessment included toxicity of the ozonated solutions, assessment of the protein phosphate inhibition assay technique and the possibility of seeding an activated carbon filter with select bacteria for removal of microcystin-LR. This report offers valuable guidance to the water supplier to aid in deciding upon the most appropriate treatment options for a range of dissolved blue-green algal toxins.

This paper provides an extensive review of different aspects of five shellfish-poisoning syndromes (paralytic, diarrhoeic, amnesic, neurologic and azapiracid), as well as one fish-poisoning syndrome (ciguatera fish poisoning), and discusses in detail the causative toxins produced by marine organisms, chemical structures and analytical methods of the toxins, habitat and occurrence of the toxin-producing organisms, case studies and existing regulations. Based on this analysis, risk assessments are carried out for each of the toxins, and recommendations are elaborated to improve the management of these risks in order to reduce the harmful effect of these toxins on public health.

Use of coastal, estuarine and freshwater recreational environments has significant benefits for health and well-being, including rest, relaxation, exercise, cultural and religious practices, and aesthetic pleasure, while also providing substantial local, regional and national economic benefits. These guidelines focus on water quality management for coastal and freshwater environments to protect public health. The guidelines: 1. describe the current state of knowledge about the possible adverse health impacts of various forms of water pollution; and2. set out recommendations for setting national health-based targets, conducting surveillance and risk assessments, putting in place systems to monitor and control risks, and providing timely advice to users on water safety.These guidelines are aimed at national and local authorities, and other entities with an obligation to exercise due diligence relating to the safety of recreational water sites. They may be implemented in conjunction with other measures for water safety (such as drowning prevention and sun exposure) and measures for environmental protection of recreational water use sites.

This volume contains the lectures and seminars given at the NATO Advanced Study Institute on “Sensor Systems for Biological Threads: The Algal Toxins Case”, held in Pisa, Italy in October, 2007. The Institute was sponsored and funded by the Scientific Affairs Division of NATO. It is my pleasant duty to thank this institution. This ASI offered updated information on how far the research on algal toxins has gone in the exploration of structures, biosynthesis and regulation of toxins, and the development of technology for bio-monitoring these c- pounds. Algae can form heavy growths in ponds, lakes, reservoirs and sl- moving rivers throughout the world; algae can house toxins which are - ually released into water when the cells rupture or die. Hundreds of toxins have been identified so far. Detection methods, including rapid screening, have been developed to help us learning more about them, especially to find out which toxins are a real threat for people and what conditions encourage their production and accumulation. Early detection of algal toxins is an - portant aspect for public safety and natural environment, and significant efforts are underway to develop effective and reliable tools that can be used for this purpose.