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FGCU Marine Science Professor Continues Research into Airborne Blue-Green Algae Toxins

Cyanobacteria Bloom
Christian Fischer [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]
/
The Florida Channel
Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.

Toward the end of the massive blue-green algae bloom that choked area waters in 2018 Florida Gulf Coast University marine science professor, Dr. Mike Parsons, conducted a small pilot project that collected data on how far toxins produced by the algae could travel through the air, and how deeply the toxins could make it into human lungs. Initial results showed the toxins could travel for miles, and could make it all the way to the part of the lungs where air/blood exchange occurs.

Now, thanks to a grant from the Florida Department of Health, Dr. Parsons and his team of researchers are continuing that effort by collecting more data, using specialized air sampling devices strategically placed around Cape Coral. We’re joined by Dr. Parsons to get the latest on that research, and plans going forward. 

Copyright 2020 WGCU. To see more, visit WGCU.

Mike Kiniry is producer of Gulf Coast Live, and co-creator and host of the WGCU podcast Three Song Stories: Biography Through Music. He first joined the WGCU team in the summer of 2003 as an intern while studying Communication at Florida Gulf Coast University.
Julie Glenn is the host of Gulf Coast Live. She has been working in southwest Florida as a freelance writer since 2007, most recently as a regular columnist for the Naples Daily News. She began her broadcasting career in 1993 as a reporter/anchor/producer for a local CBS affiliate in Quincy, Illinois. After also working for the NBC affiliate, she decided to move to Parma, Italy where she earned her Master’s degree in communication from the University of Gastronomic Sciences. Her undergraduate degree in Mass Communication is from the University of Missouri at Kansas City.