Cyanobacteria, cyanotoxins and their risk management for the protection of water resources and health
The cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) which occur globally in aquatic and terrestrial environments produce a wide range of potent toxins.
These include hepato-, neuro-, cyto- and genotoxins, carcinogens and tumour promoters. The practical, health and economic significance of these microbial secondary metabolites continues to be confirmed in the UK and internationally (Huisman et al., 2018; Svircev et al.,2019; Codd et al., 2020).
Practical solutions to reduce the mass development of cyanobacteria in waterbodies are being identified and delivered to end-user groups (Burford et al., 2019).