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Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) bloom on Lake Erie (United States) in 2009. These kinds of algae can cause harmful algal bloom. A harmful algal bloom (HAB), or excessive algae growth, is an algal bloom that causes negative impacts to other organisms by production of natural algae-produced toxins, water deoxygenation, mechanical damage to other organisms, or by other means.
Blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, typically grows in lakes, rivers, ponds, estuaries and marine water, according to the Washington State Department of Health, but not all blooms are ...
Like true algae, cyanobacteria are photosynthetic and contain photosynthetic pigments, which is why they are usually green or blue. Cyanobacteria are found almost everywhere; in oceans, lakes and rivers as well as on land. They flourish in Arctic and Antarctic lakes, [23] hotsprings [24] and wastewater treatment plants. [25]
Algal blooms in freshwater systems are not always caused by human contamination and have been observed to occur naturally in both eutrophic and oligotrophic lakes. Eutrophic lakes contain an abundance of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphates which increase the likelihood for blooms. Oligotrophic lakes don't contain much of these nutrients.
Waterborne diseases were once wrongly explained by the miasma theory, the theory that bad air causes the spread of diseases. [ 27 ] [ 28 ] However, people started to find a correlation between water quality and waterborne diseases, which led to different water purification methods, such as sand filtering and chlorinating their drinking water.
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The algae poses a threat to both marine and human life. People should avoid swimming in water around the blooms because toxins that may be present could lead to a host of illnesses.
Protothecosis, otherwise known as Algaemia, is a disease found in dogs, cats, cattle, and humans caused by a type of green alga known as Prototheca that lacks chlorophyll and enters the human or animal bloodstream. It and its close relative Helicosporidium are unusual in that they are actually green algae that have become parasites. [1]