Federal researchers are trying to determine the health effects of breathing toxins from blue-green algae. Now you can possibly play a role in helping them answer that question — and get compensated for your time.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is seeking Treasure Coast volunteers to participate in a $1.6 million study to determine whether toxins from cyanobacteria, commonly called blue-green algae, can enter our bodies through the air we breathe.
Researchers will collect data from volunteers from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, July 15 at the Indiantown YMCA. Study participants must:
- Be 18 or older
- Live or work near Lake Okeechobee, the St. Lucie or Caloosahatchee rivers or any Cape Coral canals
- Spend at least two hours outside on most days.
Scroll down for more information on what the study requires you to do.
CDC study digs deeper into aerosolization
There is a lot of anecdotal data from people who have reported such common symptoms as red, watery, irritated eyes; sore throat; coughing; and trouble breathing.
The CDC study will try to determine whether inhaling aerosols — tiny, suspended particles in the air — has a significant effect on lung and kidney function, said nursing professor Shirley Gordon, who’s leading the study.
“Toxins can enter the body in multiple ways and one of the ways is by breathing them in,” Gordon told TCPalm. “This is one of the first studies that’s actually looking at that aerosolization.”
Some previous studies were done during the 2018 bloom:
What will CDC researchers study?
The CDC research is being conducted now to coincide with toxic algal blooms flaring up in Lake Okeechobee and the C-44 Canal, which stretches from Port Mayaca east to the St. Lucie Lock and Dam southwest of Indiantown, Palm City and Stuart. Blooms are more likely during the warmer, wetter months of summer.
The Port Mayaca bloom contained 130 parts per billion of the toxin microcystin on June 21, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s water sample results.
That’s over 16 times higher than the 8 parts per billion threshold the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sets when water becomes too hazardous to touch, ingest or inhale for people, pets and wildlife.
A health alert remains in effect at Port Mayaca as well as Timer Powers Park in Indiantown, where the state this week detected trace amounts of toxin in an algal bloom, the Florida health department office in Martin County confirmed Wednesday.
“By looking at the results from all study participants, we may be able to tell which symptoms are likely to be a result of exposure to cyanotoxins,” the CDC said.
Requirements to join the study
Participants will meet with researchers five times during “bloom season” — it typically runs March through October — for health screenings, symptom surveys and at-home lung function tests.
Researchers will test urine and administer nasal swabs, and help participants record air quality and time spent outdoors.
Participants are required to provide samples during a morning visit and return at least four hours later the same day for additional monitoring.
“What we’re doing with this study is responding to some very specific concerns that were expressed by the community (in) areas that are affected by these big cyanobacterial blooms,” said lead investigator Lorraine Backer, senior environmental epidemiologist at the National Center for Environmental Health.
In addition to Indiantown, there will be a test site on July 15 at the DOH office in Clewiston, Gordon said. The town of 8,000 residents lies just southwest of Lake O.
The CDC will pay up to $300 for volunteering, depending on the research activities completed each day, Gordon said.
Volunteer participation minimal so far
So far, only 10 people have volunteered for the study designed for 150, despite the incentives, the Fort Myers News-Press reported Wednesday.
Backer is hopeful the community will rally, especially after a wave of 2018 algal blooms plagued Florida waterways and stifled outdoor industries such as Stuart-based Central Marine, when toxic algae smothered the water and shoreline.
U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Palm City, filed three bills in March that would:
- Keep toxic algae out of the St. Lucie River
- Prioritize public health
- Alert people to the hazards of Lake O discharges.
“Water supply doesn’t matter if it’s crap water that you can’t touch, drink, or if it poisons the things that it gets on top of,” Mast said March 22, standing by the St. Lucie River in Stuart.
To join the study or get more information
Contact FAU at 561-297-4631 or cast@cdc.gov.
Below: CDC’s flier announcing the study
For more news, follow Max Chesnes on Twitter.
Max Chesnes is a TCPalm environment reporter covering issues facing the Indian River Lagoon, St. Lucie River and Lake Okeechobee. You can keep up with Max on Twitter @MaxChesnes, email him at max.chesnes@tcpalm.com and give him a call at 772-978-2224.
