Cyanobacteria, water quality and public health implications: a systematic scoping review

ABSTRACT

Cyanobacteria pose a significant threat to human health. Knowledge of the most prominent physical parameters related with cyanobacterial growth not only aids water monitoring but public health risk management, to enable rapid local responses to changing water quality conditions. This paper is a systematic scoping review of Australian environmental studies that examined a link between cyanobacterial growth and one or more specific physical water quality parameters. The 34 included articles showed a consistent correlation between water quality parameters and cyanobacterial growth. Temperature and light exposure were positively correlated with cyanobacteria in all studies. Salinity, flow, wind speed and turbidity were negatively correlated with cyanobacteria in all studies. Geographically, majority of the studies focussed on the Murray-Darling Basin. The consistency across studies indicates a potential for broader environmental monitoring criteria to aid in both water quality management and public health response to cyanobacterial bloom formation.

KEYWORDS:

• Cyanobacteria
• recreation
• temperature
• public health

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data Availability

All data are available within the paper

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/13241583.2022.2083051

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jack Grentell

Jack Grentell is a medical student at the Australian National University Medical School. He has a research interest in public health, particularly concerning the impact of cyanobacteria and decreased water quality on regional and remote Australian communities. Jack hopes to continue further research following the completion of his medical degree.

Ripon Kumar Adhikary

Ripon Kumar Adhikary is a PhD researcher at the Research School of Population Health, ANU College of Health and Medicine, The Australian National University. His research aims to explore the links between water quality and waterborne diseases in Australia. His current PhD project is titled “Spatial and seasonal changes in water quality and links to health and well-being” and is expected to complete in 2023.

Aparna Lal

Aparna Lal is an associate professor at the Research School of Population Health, ANU College of Health and Medicine, The Australian National University. Her research focuses on how the physical environment, broadly defined, impacts human health and well-being. Aparnas projects combine public health surveillance with remote sensing, and land and water quality monitoring data to quantify, monitor and understand the processes that shape disease patterns.