Tuesday December 14, 2021, 1 pm GMT+1
Nick YOUNG1,2*, Richard A. SHARPE1,2,3, Rosa BARCIELA1,2,4, Gordon NICHOLS2, Keith DAVIDSON5, Elisa BERDALET6, Lora E. FLEMING1,2
Marine harmful algal blooms and observed human health effects – what is the evidence?
1 European Centre for Environment and Human Health, Truro, UK
2 University of Exeter Medical School, Exeter, UK
3 Public Health, Cornwall, Truro, UK
4 Met Office, Exeter, UK
5 Scottish Association for Marine Science, Scottish Marine Institute, Oban, UK
6 Institute of Marine Sciences (CSIC), Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta, Barcelona, Spain
* Ny252@exeter.ac.uk
Exposure to harmful algal blooms (HABs) can lead to well recognised acute patterns of illness in humans. We carried out a scoping review using established methodology to map the evidence for associations between marine HABs and observed both acute and chronic human health effects. A systematic and reproducible search of publications from 1985 until May 2019 was conducted using diverse electronic databases. Following de-duplication, 5301 records were identified, of which 380 were included in the final qualitative synthesis. Most studies (220; 57.9%) related to Ciguatera Poisoning. Anecdotal and case reports were the most frequent study types (242; 63.7%), whereas there were fewer formal epidemiological studies (35; 9.2%). Only four studies related to chronic exposure to HABs. Few studies reported the use of human specimens for confirmation of the cause of illness (32; 8.4%). This study highlighted gaps in the evidence base including a lack of formal surveillance and epidemiological studies, limited use of toxin measurements in human samples, and a scarcity of studies of chronic exposure. Future research and policy should provide a baseline understanding of the burden of human disease to inform the evaluation of the current and future impacts of climate change and HABs on human health.