Lawmakers neglect Florida toxin threat

Florida legislators spent much of their time this last session restricting discussions about race, sexual orientation and gender identity and — in what the governor proclaims as this “state of freedom” — women’s access to abortion.

This was at the expense of problems actually burdening daily life — the cost of homeowners insurance, the lack of affordable housing and the safety of high-rise condominiums.

If legislators decide to address real problems, let’s start with serious threats to public health caused by environmental pollution.

Arizona researchers recently reported there is enough data to establish a causal connection between BMAA (beta-N-methylamino-L-alanine), a neurotoxin produced by cyanobacteria (blue-green algae), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

The announcement shouldn’t startle – studies have pointed to an elevated risk of illnesses from environmental factors, including BMAA toxin found in the brains of people with the neuro-degenerative diseases ALS and Alzheimer’s.

University of Miami Miller School of Medicine neuropathologists found that monkeys fed BMAA developed symptoms of ALS. Another study documented that monkeys given BMAA developed the plaque and tangles associated with Alzheimer’s.

The medical team also detected BMAA in the brains of dead dolphins displaying Alzheimer’s and ALS degenerative damage. Another study found concentrations of BMAA in the brains of dolphins in canals contaminated by algae.

Blue-green algae also produces microcystin, a carcinogen that causes non-alcoholic liver cancer. Research has linked liver disease to the location of cyanobacteria blooms. The Stuart area is one of the nation’s 65 liver cancer clusters.

During the historic 2016-2018 outbreak of blue-green algae, microcystin levels in the St. Lucie canal were 300 times more than recommended as safe by the World Health Organization.

A report on responses to the cyanobacteria outbreak noted that those exposed to the bloom, including children picnicking, fishing and swimming in cyanobacterially contaminated waters, “may experience an increased lifetime risk of liver cancer and/or hepatic dysfunction requiring hospitalization or transplantation.”

If this were not alarming enough, research also indicates that blue-green algae toxins are airborne. One study found cyanobacteria three miles from the Caloosahatchee River.

Authorities have responded to the infestation of our waterways: the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by changing Lake Okeechobee release policies, and the state by investing in the construction of reservoirs to store water before releasing it down the Caloosahatchee and in the Everglades Agricultural Area.

Credit the DeSantis administration for budgeting for these projects but we need strategies that prevent pollution at its source. Focus should be on pollution coming into Lake Okeechobee feeding blue-green algae — especially by runoff of nitrogen-rich fertilizers from dairy and cattle farms and human waste from septic tanks — rather than on waters leaving Lake O.

Recall the tons of dead fish on beaches, the devastating impact on Florida’s tourist-based economy, including hotel, restaurants, fishing charters and real estate values.

For humans, red tide causes gastro-intestinal problems, skin rashes and coughing — and a spike in hospital admissions for people suffering respiratory discomfort.

While the long-term health effects are not fully known, exposure to red tide may be especially threatening to those with asthma, emphysema or chronic lung disease.

There are more than two dozen phosphate mines in west central Florida. During the mining process, a radioactive contaminant, Radium-226, is unearthed and piled in mounds – waiting to be blown into the air, water and our lungs.

Radium produces cancer-causing gamma-rays that can penetrate the body, increasing the risk of lymphoma and leukemia. As radium decays, it becomes radon, an odorless, radioactive carcinogenic gas that seeps into homes, creating risks for lung cancer.

Parks and neighborhoods have been built on land reclaimed from phosphate mines, further exposing people to elevated cancer risks.

It is not alarmist to say that the people of Florida — especially those coming into contact with algae infested waters or consuming its fish or breathing the air nearby, or who live near a phosphate mine — have been exposed to cancer-causing agents and are at a higher risk for the neuro-degenerative diseases Alzheimer’s and ALS.

One impediment to protecting public health by imposing enforceable regulations on polluters is the relaxed attitude of policy-makers about the nexus of environmental toxins and health.

This may reflect the need for greater understanding about how much exposure to environmental toxins is dangerous. The problem may seem less urgent due to the latency period for various cancers and neurological diseases — it could take 20 years for symptoms to show up.

But people should be alarmed and angry — about the health threat and the neglect by our legislators.

Howard L. Simon, Ph.D., executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida from 1997–2018, is president of the Clean Okeechobee Waters Foundation.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Algae, red tide, radiation need swift fix by Florida lawmakers.