Not only does Pfiesteria piscicida have an impact on the health of fish, but it also causes complications on humans. Thirteen researchers who worked with diluted toxic cultures of Pfiesteria were subjected to serious adverse health by coming in contact with the water or by inhaling toxic aerosols from laboratory cultures. The symptoms from Pfiesteria include narcosis (a "drugged" effect), development of sores (in areas that directly contact water containing toxic cultures of Pfiesteria, and also on the chest and face), uniform reddening of the eyes, severe headaches, blurred vision, nausea/vomiting, sustained difficulty breathing (asthma-like effects), kidney and liver dysfunction, acute short-term memory loss, and severe cognitive impairment (equals serious difficulty in being able to read, remember one�s name, dial a telephone number, or do simple arithmetic beyond 1+2=3). For example, in January 1993, Burkholder began spending more time assisting with the actual experiments in the laboratory. She worked with beakers filled with extremely toxic batches of culture, holding the containers directly in front of her face to carefully pour the contents. At times, she recalled her eyes burning, so she raised a glove hand that was dripping with toxic water to rub them. As a result, she began to feel the narcotic effect take control along with breathing problems and severe stomach cramps. In addition, later she had problems teaching her class. She misspoke, her thoughts were confused, and she was unable to answer some very basic questions asked by her students. On her drive home, she remembered looking down at the speedometer and realized that she was going eighty-two miles per hour down streets whose speed limit was forty-five (Barker, 1997). Burkholder�s laboratory was shut down after she and a colleague fell ill. Her colleague�s reading ability deteriorated to the level of a 7-year-old. The effect temporarily lasted three months. Later that summer, the lab was reopened with state-of-the-art ventilation systems and isolation units to contain the organism (Pain, 1996). Many of these listed symptoms gradually disappear over time as long as the person is no long exposed to Pfiesteria. On the other hand, some of these effects have reoccurred in people after strenuous exercise from time to time as far up to six years after the initial exposure to Pfiesteria (Burkholder, 1997). Pfiesteria was also linked to fishers, water skiers, and those monitoring fish kills. They also complained of skin lesions and other health effects, such headaches and light-headedness. Consequently, Pfiesteria not only affects laboratory workers, but everyone who comes in contact with it outdoors.
Posted on: Wed, 18 Sep 2013 19:46:31 +0000
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