Lake Erie algae toxin water advisory impacts Michigan, Toledo residents

10:14 AM, August 2, 2014
By Robin Erb
Detroit Free Press Medical Writer

Toxins detected in the water system in Toledo, Ohio has residents along Michigan’s southeast border under a water advisory in which they’re instructed not to drink the water, even if it has been boiled.

The source may be a toxic harmful algae bloom in Lake Erie, according to the city’s Facebook page .

“…(I)n fact, boiling water can worsen the situation. Water should not be given to pets,” reads the notice.

Drinking the contaminated water containing the algal toxin, microcystin, may result in abnormal liver function.

Residents have been advised to contact a doctor if they have consumed the water and feel nauseous, are vomiting, feel dizzy or numb. Vets are to be contacted if pets or livestock appear sick.

Even contact with the water can trigger a rash, the advisory reads.

Chemists testing water at Toledo’s Collins Park Water Treatment Plant detected microcystin in excess of the recommended 1 micro-gram per liter standard and a notice was posted on the city’s Facebook site overnight.

By 8 a.m., the normally quiet Kroger store was packed in Michigan's Lambertville, a suburb of Toledo. Customers were waiting when it opened at 6 a.m.

Lambertville mother of three, Jen Feck, loaded up her cart with bags of ice in the nearly-empty ice machines. Her sister had called her early, so she immediately cut off the water in the house so her toddlers wouldn’t drink or play in the tap water.

“We had to turn all the water off in the house because they constantly are turning the water on to wash their hands –you know,hygiene,” the Chrysler employee said. With no water left in the store – a hand-written sign at the entrance made it clear to customers – she planned to melt the ice.

Outside an ice truck had just pulled up. Its driver had been asked to make extra runs today.

http://www.freep.com/article/2014080...ning-Lake-Erie