Marine harmful algal blooms, human health and wellbeing : challenges and opportunities in the 21st century

Author Posting. © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 2015. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 96 (2016): 61-91, doi:10.1017/S0025315415001733.Microalgal blooms are a natural part of the seasonal cycle of photosynthetic organisms in marine ecosystems. They are key components of the structure and dynamics of the oceans and thus sustain the benefits that humans obtain from these aquatic environments. However, some microalgal blooms can cause harm to humans and other organisms. These harmful algal blooms (HABs) have direct impacts on human health and negative influences on human wellbeing, mainly through their consequences to coastal ecosystem services (valued fisheries, tourism and recreation) and other marine organisms and environments. HABs are natural phenomena, but these events can be favoured by anthropogenic pressures in coastal areas. Global warming and associated changes in the oceans could affect HAB occurrences and toxicity as well, although forecasting the possible trends is still speculative and requires intensive multidisciplinary research. At the beginning of the 21st century, with expanding human populations, particularly in coastal and developing countries, there is an urgent need to prevent and mitigate HABs’ impacts on human health and wellbeing. The available tools to address this global challenge include maintaining intensive, multidisciplinary and collaborative scientific research, and strengthening the coordination with stakeholders, policymakers and the general public. Here we provide an overview of different aspects to understand the relevance of the HABs phenomena, an important element of the intrinsic links between oceans and human health and wellbeing.The research was funded in part by the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) and UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) for the MEDMI Project; the National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit (NIHR HPRU) in Environmental Change and Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in partnership with Public Health England (PHE), and in collaboration with the University of Exeter, University College London and the Met Office; and the European Regional Development Fund Programme and European Social Fund Convergence Programme for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (University of Exeter Medical School). EB was supported by the CTM2014-53818-R project, from the Spanish Government (MINECO). KDA was in receipt of funding from the BBSRC-NERC research programme for multidisciplinary studies in sustainable aquaculture: health, disease and the environment. P. Hess was supported by Ifremer (RISALTOX) and the Regional Council of the Pays de la Loire (COSELMAR). Porter Hoagland was supported by the US National Science Foundation under NSF/CNH grant no. 1009106.2016-05-2

Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in the Seaflower Biosphere Reserve

This open access book addresses the following topics for the Seaflower Biosphere Reserve (BR) in the Colombian Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia, and Santa Catalina, in the southwest Caribbean Sea, which is the world’s largest BR and contains representative ecosystems of tropical island regions. ● Future regional climate behavior and forms of balanced relationships between humans and nature to promote climate change (CC) adaptation and mitigation strategies for tropical islands. ● The relevance of BRs as ideal locations to study and replicate interdisciplinary adaptation strategies. BRs are “living, dynamic laboratories” where local communities demonstrate safe and sustainable development possibilities. Island and coastal tropical BRs disproportionately face adverse effects of CC, making them a research priority with unprecedented intellectual challenges for their unique characteristics. This collaborative effort ● Stimulates critical and interdisciplinary thinking around tropical island regions ● Presents new and different angles to understand local socioenvironmental impacts of CC ● Demonstrates the linkage between ecosystem services, human well-being, and CC adaptation ● Connects local experiences to global dynamics and processes, and vice versa ● Places the struggles and knowledge of the indigenous Raizal people at the forefront of CC and BR studies ● Examines relevant socioenvironmental pathways toward collective action for adaptive capacity, resilience, and ultimately contributes to sustainable development processes in BRs worldwide. This book was financed by the Corporation Center of Excellence in Marine Sciences (CEMarin)

Health Communication Blindspot: A Case Study of Harmful Algal Blooms in the South (HABITS)

A Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) is a complex natural event that occurs when algae is in its growth stage and creates a harmful toxin as waste. HABs create both ecologic and public health challenges. The hypothesis of this thesis is that state and federal governments have different readability scores when compared side-by-side as measured by Simple Measures of Gobbledygook (SMOG). Because governments are the entity that most often claims responsibility for shared resources, this case study represents a snapshot of current governmental messaging about HABs in the South Atlantic states. These states have a long history of HAB events in both fresh and marine water environments. Intense urbanization, nutrient loading, increasing water temperatures, and ocean acidification have all contributed to increased recorded HAB events in recent years. As this region continues to face booming population growth, the issue of HABs will continue to play a role in the development and exploitation of coastal communities. The scientific community often grapples with the difficulties of disseminating evidence-based messaging to a lay public audience. One emerging field in environmental health sciences is environmental health literacy (EHL). As a discipline, EHL rests between environmental science and health communication. Sources for this online content analysis were obtained using a targeted search of both South Atlantic state websites and federal agencies concerned with HABs and their effects on human health. 90 webpages were identified from state (n=38) federal agencies (n=42), as well as non-governmental organizations (n=10). The average SMOG score of all 90 sources is an 11th grade reading level (10.7) with a standard deviation of 2.78. This content analysis reflects the complexity of scientific communication. However, as evaluation and improvement are the final steps in any public health programming, evaluation needs to be undertaken in all EHL programming in order to properly protect the public from known toxicologic and environmental health risks

Human health and ocean pollution

Background: Pollution – unwanted waste released to air, water, and land by human activity – is the largest environmental cause of disease in the world today. It is responsible for an estimated nine million premature deaths per year, enormous economic losses, erosion of human capital, and degradation of ecosystems. Ocean pollution is an important, but insufficiently recognized and inadequately controlled component of global pollution. It poses serious threats to human health and well-being. The nature and magnitude of these impacts are only beginning to be understood. Goals: (1) Broadly examine the known and potential impacts of ocean pollution on human health. (2) Inform policy makers, government leaders, international organizations, civil society, and the global public of these threats. (3) Propose priorities for interventions to control and prevent pollution of the seas and safeguard human health. Methods: Topic-focused reviews that examine the effects of ocean pollution on human health, identify gaps in knowledge, project future trends, and offer evidence-based guidance for effective intervention. Environmental Findings: Pollution of the oceans is widespread, worsening, and in most countries poorly controlled. It is a complex mixture of toxic metals, plastics, manufactured chemicals, petroleum, urban and industrial wastes, pesticides, fertilizers, pharmaceutical chemicals, agricultural runoff, and sewage. More than 80% arises from land-based sources. It reaches the oceans through rivers, runoff, atmospheric deposition and direct discharges. It is often heaviest near the coasts and most highly concentrated along the coasts of low- and middle-income countries. Plastic is a rapidly increasing and highly visible component of ocean pollution, and an estimated 10 million metric tons of plastic waste enter the seas each year. Mercury is the metal pollutant of greatest concern in the oceans; it is released from two main sources – coal combustion and small-scale gold mining. Global spread of industrialized agriculture with increasing use of chemical fertilizer leads to extension of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) to previously unaffected regions. Chemical pollutants are ubiquitous and contaminate seas and marine organisms from the high Arctic to the abyssal depths. Ecosystem Findings: Ocean pollution has multiple negative impacts on marine ecosystems, and these impacts are exacerbated by global climate change. Petroleum-based pollutants reduce photosynthesis in marine microorganisms that generate oxygen. Increasing absorption of carbon dioxide into the seas causes ocean acidification, which destroys coral reefs, impairs shellfish development, dissolves calcium-containing microorganisms at the base of the marine food web, and increases the toxicity of some pollutants. Plastic pollution threatens marine mammals, fish, and seabirds and accumulates in large mid-ocean gyres. It breaks down into microplastic and nanoplastic particles containing multiple manufactured chemicals that can enter the tissues of marine organisms, including species consumed by humans. Industrial releases, runoff, and sewage increase frequency and severity of HABs, bacterial pollution, and anti-microbial resistance. Pollution and sea surface warming are triggering poleward migration of dangerous pathogens such as the Vibrio species. Industrial discharges, pharmaceutical wastes, pesticides, and sewage contribute to global declines in fish stocks. Human Health Findings: Methylmercury and PCBs are the ocean pollutants whose human health effects are best understood. Exposures of infants in utero to these pollutants through maternal consumption of contaminated seafood can damage developing brains, reduce IQ and increase children’s risks for autism, ADHD and learning disorders. Adult exposures to methylmercury increase risks for cardiovascular disease and dementia. Manufactured chemicals – phthalates, bisphenol A, flame retardants, and perfluorinated chemicals, many of them released into the seas from plastic waste – can disrupt endocrine signaling, reduce male fertility, damage the nervous system, and increase risk of cancer. HABs produce potent toxins that accumulate in fish and shellfish. When ingested, these toxins can cause severe neurological impairment and rapid death. HAB toxins can also become airborne and cause respiratory disease. Pathogenic marine bacteria cause gastrointestinal diseases and deep wound infections. With climate change and increasing pollution, risk is high that Vibrio infections, including cholera, will increase in frequency and extend to new areas. All of the health impacts of ocean pollution fall disproportionately on vulnerable populations in the Global South – environmental injustice on a planetary scale. Conclusions: Ocean pollution is a global problem. It arises from multiple sources and crosses national boundaries. It is the consequence of reckless, shortsighted, and unsustainable exploitation of the earth’s resources. It endangers marine ecosystems. It impedes the production of atmospheric oxygen. Its threats to human health are great and growing, but still incompletely understood. Its economic costs are only beginning to be counted. Ocean pollution can be prevented. Like all forms of pollution, ocean pollution can be controlled by deploying data-driven strategies based on law, policy, technology, and enforcement that target priority pollution sources. Many countries have used these tools to control air and water pollution and are now applying them to ocean pollution. Successes achieved to date demonstrate that broader control is feasible. Heavily polluted harbors have been cleaned, estuaries rejuvenated, and coral reefs restored. Prevention of ocean pollution creates many benefits. It boosts economies, increases tourism, helps restore fisheries, and improves human health and well-being. It advances the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). These benefits will last for centuries. Recommendations: World leaders who recognize the gravity of ocean pollution, acknowledge its growing dangers, engage civil society and the global public, and take bold, evidence-based action to stop pollution at source will be critical to preventing ocean pollution and safeguarding human health. Prevention of pollution from land-based sources is key. Eliminating coal combustion and banning all uses of mercury will reduce mercury pollution. Bans on single-use plastic and better management of plastic waste reduce plastic pollution. Bans on persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have reduced pollution by PCBs and DDT. Control of industrial discharges, treatment of sewage, and reduced applications of fertilizers have mitigated coastal pollution and are reducing frequency of HABs. National, regional and international marine pollution control programs that are adequately funded and backed by strong enforcement have been shown to be effective. Robust monitoring is essential to track progress. Further interventions that hold great promise include wide-scale transition to renewable fuels; transition to a circular economy that creates little waste and focuses on equity rather than on endless growth; embracing the principles of green chemistry; and building scientific capacity in all countries. Designation of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) will safeguard critical ecosystems, protect vulnerable fish stocks, and enhance human health and well-being. Creation of MPAs is an important manifestation of national and international commitment to protecting the health of the seas

A mixed-methods approach to analyse foodborne disease outbreaks in the hospitality sector: informing effective governance for the Dominican Republic.

The tourism and the hospitality sector is a key socio-economic driver of economic development. In the Dominican Republic, the increase in tourism and hospitality has led to economic growth with a significant contribution to the gross domestic product and job opportunities for the country. Hospitality settings are frequently associated with health-related crises that negatively impact public health and the tourism industry. However, the available information regarding foodborne disease outbreaks in the Dominican Republic is limited. In order to gain a greater understanding of the common attribution of contributing causes of foodborne diseases and the flaws in contemporary food safety practices and systems, this study examined foodborne disease outbreaks as a whole, considering the preconditions that might have contributed to or influenced their occurrence. To achieve its objectives, this study mainly adopted an exploratory sequential mixed-methods approach by adopting a systematic mapping review, a systemic accident analysis approach (AcciMap), and a stakeholders' investigation to evaluate from a wider, holistic perspective foodborne disease outbreaks and practices in hospitality premises to then inform policy development. The findings provide deeper understanding of factors associated these foodborne disease outbreaks. For instance, foodborne disease outbreaks are complex and result from both anticipated and unanticipated aspects within a chain of events. Therefore, the main recommendation to prevent and manage the occurrence of foodborne disease outbreaks specially in the hospitality sector is to establish a foodborne disease control plan that effectively designs and implements the guidelines for more efficient risk monitoring and mitigation. In such a control plan, water and wastewater management controls are a critical aspect of foodborne disease management to prevent similar incidents in the future by taking the appropriate precautionary measures

Toxic red tides and shellfish toxicity in Southeast Asia: Proceedings of a consultative meeting held in Singapore 11-14 September 1984

The occurrence of toxic red tides and paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) have become more frequent in Southeast Asian waters in recent years. A consultative meeting was organized by the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada on 11-14 September 1984 to review the status of shellfish toxicity in Southeast Asia and discuss ways and means for its improved study and control. It was attended by 28 officials and researchers from Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, including participants from the International Center for Living Aquatic Resource Management, IDRC and SEAFDEC. This volume resulted from the meeting and provides, for the first time, a review of past problems and current research on the subject. It includes edited papers, recommendations and conclusions of the meeting. The papers describe the background related to PSP and red tide in the region as well as the measures taken to protect consumers. Also included are resource papers outlining conditions in Canada and Japan and the protective measures which have been adopted by the two countries