Cyanobacterial Toxins Emerging Contaminants in Soils: A Review of Sources, Fate and Impacts on Ecosystems, Plants and Animal and Human Health

Abstract

In the last few decades, there has been a growing interest in the occurrence of cyanotoxins and their potential toxicity in the aquatic environment. However, the used of dried toxic cyanobacteria cells as fertilizer or the used of surface water contaminated with cyanotoxins for agricultural crops irrigation can be source of soil contamination. In addition, surface waters presenting dense toxic blooms of cyanobacteria and used for agricultural practices are not controlled and are often used without prior treatment. Once in soil, cyanotoxins may be transported again to water bodies by leaching, runoff and drainage processes or can be accumulated in soils and, therefore, may cause contamination of vegetation by absorption from soils or by surface pollution of plants. In addition to possible effects on human health, elevated levels of cyanotoxins in soils can negatively affect plant vigour, animal health, microbial processes and overall soil health. Consequently, the focus of this chapter of soil contamination is cyanotoxins as contaminants of emerging concern in the soil, identifying sources of contamination, determining their fate and effects in the soil, and understanding their bioaccumulation in agricultural plants used for feed and food and consequences on animal and human health.

Fate and effects of microcystin in nearshore and upland environments : a literature review

“…It should be noted that changing the structure of MC molecules can potentially change the affinity to, and inhibition of, the target active sites (i.e., covalent modification on protein phosphatases) (Hitzfeld et al 2000). However, the role in soil-particle binding activity to the structure of MCs and the potential biotransformation (e.g., covalent binding) of MCs in plant tissues and the subsequent effects on bioavailability and toxicity of MCs is largely unknown (Bouaicha and Corbel 2016).…”

“…It should be noted that adsorption may influence the bioavailability of MCs; however, the role of altered toxicity associated with soil and tissue activity (e.g., adsorption, covalent bonding, etc.) is largely unknown (Bouaicha and Corbel 2016). In terms of potential groundwater infiltration, MCs have been detected in drinking water wells near surface waters containing toxin producing blooms (Yang et al 2016) and in shallow groundwater near areas where mechanically harvested algal blooms were placed .…”

Detection, Occurrence and Fate of Emerging Contaminants in Agricultural Environments

“…Recent reviews have further highlighted the role of cyanotoxins as emerging freshwater contaminants in agro-ecosystems primarily through toxin accumulation in plant tissues and yield reduction from irrigation with toxin-contaminated waters (Bouaïcha and Corbel 2016; Testai et al 2016). Bioaccumulation of MC in food-crops including rice (Liang et al 2016a), tomato (Corbel et al 2016), lettuce (Bittencourt-Oliveira et al 2016); and arugula (Kézia Cordeiro-Araújo et al 2016) have illustrated that MC accumulation in plant tissues is influenced by a variety of factors relating to the species and developmental state of study plants as well as the type, exposure time, and concentration of the cyanotoxins.…”

“…Microcystins are also likely to accumulate in soils (see Bouaicha and Corbel 2016 for review) and therefore, may also affect plant growth through effects on the soil microbial community. El Kalloufi et al (2016) evaluated the effects of MC-contaminated waters on the rhizosphere growing in conjunction with the non-food crop alfalfa ( Medicago sativa ).…”

An Overview of Cyanobacteria Harmful Algal Bloom (CyanoHAB) Issues in Freshwater Ecosystems

“…The problems associated with toxic cyanobacterial blooms in these different areas are diverse, from environmental asphyxiation due to excessive consumption of oxygen, to purely esthetic problems in recreational areas when the blooms are a colorful and often smelly scum on the surface of the water [5,11,12]. To these common problems are added productions by certain species of cyanobacteria of various secondary metabolites with a specific toxic potential (hepatotoxins, neurotoxins, and dermotoxins) causing water quality problems for fisheries, aquaculture, farming, and sanitary hazards to human and animal health [13][14][15][16][17]. This chapter focuses on the cyanoHAB occurrence as well as on environmental factors favoring their proliferation, possible human and animal health outcomes associated with their toxins and a review of robust modeling approaches to predict the bloom pattern.…”