Harmful Algal Blooms Threaten the Health of Peri-Urban Fisher Communities: A case study in Kisumu Bay, Lake Victoria, Kenya.

ABSTRACT: Available guidance to mitigate health risks from exposure to freshwater harmful algal blooms (HABs) is largely derived from temperate ecosystems. Yet in tropical ecosystems, HABs can occur year-round, and resource-dependent populations face multiple routes of exposure to toxic components. Along Winam Gulf, Lake Victoria, Kenya, fisher communities rely on lake water contaminated with microcystins (MCs) from HABs. In these peri-urban communities near Kisumu, we tested hypotheses that MCs exceed exposure guidelines across seasons, and persistent HABs present a chronic risk to fisher communities through ingestion with minimal water treatment and frequent, direct contact. We tested source waters at eleven communities across dry and rainy seasons from September 2015 through May 2016. We measured

SUBMITTER: Roegner A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7968335 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature