1,000,000); High (>1,000,000). However, these figures are mis- leading, because very low levels (more than 1,000 up to 10,000 cells per liter) can lead to acute symptoms of respira- tory irritation and shellfish harvesting closures. Medium and high levels of red tide represent a serious health threat to exposed human populations—people need not be at the beach to experience adverse effects, because red tide pro- duces up to 14 brevetoxins (neurotox- ins) that can be aerosolized, or made airborne, via wave action and carried many miles inland by the wind. Inhala- tion of the toxins can cause respiratory irritation, lung inflammation, a worsen- ing of asthma symptoms and possible depression of the immune system, among other symptoms. The real cause of prolonged, near- to-shore red tide outbreaks appears to be fertilizer pollution of the Gulf of Mexico. In April 2009, the journal Aquatic Microbial Ecology published a groundbreaking study that provided the missing link in how red tide is directly fed by human, land-based activities. The study’s research showed that runoff from applications of urea nitrogen fertil- izers such as those commonly used in lawn care, and additional sources of nitrogen compounds from septic tanks, sewage spills and sewage treatment effluent results in blooms of synachoc- cus, a harmless, green slime algae (often noticeable at the beach). Karenia brevis uses the green slime as an energy source. The more synachoccus, the more red tide—simple cause and effect. One obvious solution to the ac-
celerating red tide problem is to reduce land-based applications of urea ni- trogen, especially during the summer months. As the green slime is reduced, the red tide will have no additional energy source and will die out.
Local resident Sayer Ji is the founder and director of
GreenMedInfo.com and co-author of the book, The Cancer Kill- ers: The Cause is the Cure. His writings and research have been published in the Wellbeing Journal and the Journal of Gluten Sensitivity and have been fea- tured on
Mercola.com, NaturalNews. com,
Reuters.com,
GaryNull.com and
Care2.com.
natural awakenings March 2013 29
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