Emerging Freshwater Concern: Harmful Algae Blooms and Tire Wear Particles In Lake Wateree

Palin KayserFollow

School Name

South Carolina Governor's School for Science & Mathematics

Grade Level

12th Grade

Presentation Topic

Environmental Science

Presentation Type

Mentored

Abstract

Due to the effects of climate change, certain species of harmful marine and freshwater algae have become more prevalent in large bloom events due to higher temperatures and high nutrient runoff of nitrogen and phosphorus. These Harmful Algae Blooms, or HABs, pose a serious potential threat to both environmental and human health due to their production of dangerous toxins. The algal species of this study, Lyngbya wollei, poses a large threat upon lysing of the cell, releasing large amounts of deadly neurotoxin capable of then killing wildlife and contaminating drinking water. This toxin also has the potential to interact with other pollutants in the environment, such as micro-plastics like tire wear particles, further impacting the environment and humans by absorbing toxin and distributing it when ingested up through trophic levels or through drinking water. Algal blooms of the cyanobacteria Lyngbya wollei encompass an extremely large area of a freshwater body like the sample site Lake Wateree. These blooms carry the potential for high amounts of toxin release if a large cell lysing event were to occur. This study aimed to analyze initially the live toxicity of the HAB Lyngbya wollei and then the lysed toxicity on the test species Palaemonetes pugio, known commonly as grass shrimp. This is studied using live, un-lysed algal samples and dead, lysed algal cells, along with the potential effects and interaction of tire wear particles on algal toxin.

Location

Furman Hall 229

Start Date

3-28-2020 11:30 AM

Presentation Format

Oral Only

Group Project

No

COinS
 
Mar 28th, 11:30 AM

Emerging Freshwater Concern: Harmful Algae Blooms and Tire Wear Particles In Lake Wateree

Furman Hall 229

Due to the effects of climate change, certain species of harmful marine and freshwater algae have become more prevalent in large bloom events due to higher temperatures and high nutrient runoff of nitrogen and phosphorus. These Harmful Algae Blooms, or HABs, pose a serious potential threat to both environmental and human health due to their production of dangerous toxins. The algal species of this study, Lyngbya wollei, poses a large threat upon lysing of the cell, releasing large amounts of deadly neurotoxin capable of then killing wildlife and contaminating drinking water. This toxin also has the potential to interact with other pollutants in the environment, such as micro-plastics like tire wear particles, further impacting the environment and humans by absorbing toxin and distributing it when ingested up through trophic levels or through drinking water. Algal blooms of the cyanobacteria Lyngbya wollei encompass an extremely large area of a freshwater body like the sample site Lake Wateree. These blooms carry the potential for high amounts of toxin release if a large cell lysing event were to occur. This study aimed to analyze initially the live toxicity of the HAB Lyngbya wollei and then the lysed toxicity on the test species Palaemonetes pugio, known commonly as grass shrimp. This is studied using live, un-lysed algal samples and dead, lysed algal cells, along with the potential effects and interaction of tire wear particles on algal toxin.