SA experts launch own human health research over harmful algal bloom
Worries over a lack of algal bloom human health data in SA – despite a deluge of concerns over sore throats, breathing issues and mental health impacts – has led experts to take matters into their own hands.
Experts ranging from social scientists to public health researchers have this week launched their own research portal as South Australians continue to raise concerns about the health impacts of the harmful algal bloom across the state.
Medical anthropologist Dr Amy McLennan is part of the collaborative research collective that launched the Bloomin’ Algae website on Monday, saying they realised “that we really don’t have a playbook for this kind of disaster, which means it’s up to us to build one, and we thought we could help do that”.
The website includes a disaster impact assessment, information on the Bloomin’ Algae project and how to become involved, and a community portal to report health impacts on humans and pets.
McLennan said there was a lot of data on the impact of the algal bloom on businesses and ecosystems, but a lack of health data and research on its health impacts.
“Health data was one of the things that we found was less available to us; so, we’ve got tourism data, and we can find some interesting proxies for impact on businesses and ecology and ecosystems, but there’s a real gap around health data and health impact,” she said
“There are a lot of important human experience stories out there, but because there’s no systematic way of collecting them, it’s really hard to know the breadth or the patterns that might lie beneath them.”
She said mental health was an increasingly emerging impact of the algal bloom, and given the unprecedented nature of the ecological crisis, there was “no playbook” in how to address the issue.
SA Health executive director of health protection and licensing services Dr Chris Lease – who is not part of the website project – said that in March, the first reports were received about skin and eye irritation, as well as coughing and shortness of breath from surfers at Waitpinga.
“I’ve experienced it down at Middleton in April, and it was really the tingling in the eyes, and the breath started to catch in my throat a bit, and I had a cough, which disappeared when I removed myself from the beach,” said Lease.
Some people had reported the symptoms to linger for a few hours, but Lease said that generally, if they left the impacted region, the symptoms would disappear.
Lease was not aware of any related emergency department visits but was aware that some people reported ongoing challenges with breathing, coughing and eye irritation.
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“I can say that’s because some of these exposures continue when the conditions are right. We’ve had occasional reports of that, but in a lot of ways, once the conditions improve, that tends to resolve,” he said.
Lease said it was reassuring that algal blooms in Florida had not caused long-term health impacts and urged people with asthma to carry their reliever medication and have an up-to-date asthma plan.
He said that one of the other main health impacts of the algal bloom was on people’s mental health.
“Some of the flow-on effects from the bloom in terms of impacts are on seafood producers, tourism operators or coastal communities where they’ve been hit very hard by this, and probably more around the perceptions of the issue rather than what the actual effects might be,” he said.
A damning federal inquiry into algal blooms in South Australia showed gaps and delays in health advice over respiratory risks caused by the algal bloom.
Reports came from surfers and residents along the Fleurieu Peninsula who had reported “itchy eyes”, including surfer Anthony Rowland, who claimed to have first “raised the alarm”, saying he knew “something was terribly wrong”.
Ardrossan commercial fisher Michael Pennington told the inquiry of becoming ill for days and developing “painful boils after exposure to sea foam”.
Latest government health advice warned South Australians to stay away from foamy or abnormally coloured water, which may cause irritation.
It said people with asthma, emphysema, bronchitis or other forms of chronic lung disease may be more vulnerable to the respiratory effects of biotoxins and should avoid areas where there is abnormally coloured or foamy water, particularly if there is an onshore breeze.
According to the SA government advice, evidence indicates that there are no long-term health consequences but if symptoms persist, people should see a doctor.
Retired anatomy professor Ian Gibbins told InDaily that he was one of the first to experience the health impacts of the algal bloom while windsurfing with his mates at Encounter Bay in Victor Harbor during March this year.
“My eyes were really sore, and I couldn’t understand why until the next day, when people started reporting similar conditions from the surfers,” he said.
Gibbins is part of the new website project, saying he wanted to use his expertise in neuroscience, zoology and pharmacology to share information around the science of the algal bloom.
He said that the main physical health impacts of the algal bloom were sore noses, eyes and throats, as well as coughs and asthma-like symptoms.
“I know from my windsurfing and surfing friends that how people react to exposure to the bloom, it’s quite variable. Some days, almost everybody who’s been out there will come back saying, ‘I’ve got sore eyes, or I feel a bit crook or something’,” Gibbins said.
“Now, other times, one or two people might experience symptoms, and everybody else will be okay.”
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Gibbins said it was too soon to say whether there were any long-term health impacts of the algal bloom, but that research indicated there were no known after effects.
One local coastal resident, Audrey Darrell, who recently moved to West Lakes from Victoria, told InDaily that she smelt a metallic odour while on a beachside walk near Henley Beach and soon developed a sore throat and cough.
Darrell was surprised at how quickly she began to feel the symptoms, likening it to asthma.
“It was like a dry cough, and it was really hard to breathe in your chest. It was more like an asthmatic type thing that came on really quickly,” she said.
“I was walking along the beach, I was coughing, and by the time I got back to the car, it was quite prevalent, and it was just a bit of a shock.”
The algal bloom also affected her mental health, with Darrell saying she feels especially empathetic for people who live next to the beach.
“We have friends here who live near the beach and don’t go to the beach anymore. They said it got to March, April, and they stopped going because it’s too devastating for them to see the impact,” she said.
Sarah Strathearn, who is the South Australian state director of the Australian Red Cross, said that the humanitarian organisation was seeing a lot of psychosocial distress associated with the algal bloom.
Strathearn had personally experienced the impact of the algal bloom and called on the government to address emotional and social needs alongside economic ones.
“Some of the key impacts that we’re seeing are widespread grief, anxiety, people’s loss of identity when they can’t access water anymore, and a lot of social disconnection,” she said.
Dr Rob Ferris, who leads the SA Health Investment group at Doctor’s For the Environment Australia, told InDaily that he felt eye and respiratory irritation while surfing near his home in Port Elliot.
“I’ve personally experienced them because I live in Port Elliot. I still surf, although I’m getting on in years, and twice I experienced in April, in the early stages of the bloom, eye irritation, the respiratory irritation that is well documented,” he said. His organisation made a submission to the recent federal senate inquiry.
The retired forensic psychiatrist said that the mental health impacts of the algal bloom included eco-anxiety and ecological grief.
“I can personally attest to feeling that (ecological grief) as I’ve watched this home stretch of ocean, which I love and have lived closely by for a number of years, I’ve watched it ravaged by this incredibly destructive phenomenon,” he said.
Ferris called for urgent action on climate change to address the algal bloom, including the phasing out of fossil fuels.
Australian Medical Association South Australian president and associate professor Peter Subramaniam urged the community to follow the latest health advice.
“We know the bloom occurs when warm temperatures, slow-moving water, and the conditions cause these algae to thrive, and the messaging has been quite clear,” he said.
“At the moment, there is no suggestion that the algal bloom causes long or permanent health issues.”
Latest results from the South Australian Algal Bloom Water Testing and Monitoring Program showed that from the week beginning November 16, there were now 19 of 21 metropolitan onshore sites showing no or low levels of Karenia.
Myponga and Goolwa Beach recorded elevated levels with 13,000 and 25,500 cells per litre, respectively, while Emu Bay Jetty recorded 940,000 cells per litre and Penneshaw Breakwater 131,000.
