ORD Contributions to Pfiesteria, and Other Harmful Algal Bloom Research
October 1997
In addition to supporting the Office of Water in responding to short-term problems like
the recent outbreaks of the algae Pfiesteria in the mid-Atlantic, EPA's Office of Research and
Development (ORD) also conducts long-term research on other harmful algae that occur as
blooms that affect ecological and human health. This research is conducted on a wide variety
of organisms in an attempt to better understand the environmental and ecological factors
which contribute to these outbreaks. This work is coordinated with other federal and state
agencies that have been active in recent weeks in responding to outbreaks of Pfiesteria. Some
of ORD's activities are summarized below:
Grant to Dr. Joanne Burkholder
In the spring of 1997, ORD awarded Dr. Joanne Burkholder of North Carolina State
University a $500,000 grant to:
(1)	study factors determining the impact of nutrients on optimizing growth of the Pfiesteria.
(2)	develop specific gene probes to enable detection of Pfiesteria in environmental samples.
(3)	determine the effects that Pfiesteria has on valuable shellfish.
ECOHAB (Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms)
EPA's ORD, along with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Office of Naval Research (ONR) are jointly
funding over a three-year period the ECOHAB interagency research program. ECOHAB
research efforts include not only studies of the potentially harmful dinoflagellate Pfiesteria,
but also other harmful algae. Following the ECOHAB 1997 competition, ORD recommended
funding several studies that will contribute to better understanding harmful algal blooms and
their effects on human health.
~	The role of nutrients (Si, N, P) on the growth of the diatom Pseudonitzchia and its
production of toxins harmful to humans. The results of these studies will be useful in
assisting resource mangers in predicting where and when a toxic bloom of this
organism may occur.
~	The dinoflagellates, Prorocentrum minimum and Gyrod.in.ium aureolum, thought to
have harmful effects on humans will be studied for their effects on a variety of marine
organisms which feed on them (including bay scallops). This information will help to
determine what organisms, (those that inhabit the ocean floor or those found in the
overlying water) will be most impacted by these two toxic algae, and could result in
adverse human health effects.

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~	The focus of other ORD/ECOHAB research are blooms of cyanobacteria (blue green
algae). These blooms are increasingly more common, and can produce secondary
products that impact native coral reef and seagrass communities. These products are
also thought to be harmful to humans. ORD has recommended funding research on
the ecology of blue-green algae that will characterize their secondary products and the
potential for these organisms to impact the reef fishes which feed on them.
~	The toxic dinoflagellate Gymnodinium breve is of concern because blooms occur
almost every year in the Gulf of Mexico and as far north as North Carolina. ORD has
recommended support for a ECOHAB research effort to study the fate and transport of
toxic products (brevetoxins) from Gymnodinium breve. The research will focus on
toxin distribution both during and after a bloom, as well as the fate of the toxin in
water, sediment, and in other organisms.
~	In order to continue the scientific progress made during ECOHAB 1997, and to better
understand harmful algal blooms, ORD, NOAA, ONR, and the NSF are considering
re-issuing the ECOHAB Request for Applications (RFA) during FY 1998.
The National Environmental Monitoring and Research Initiative
In support of the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources (CENR), ORD is
participating in an interagency, integrated environmental monitoring effort, the National
Environmental Monitoring and Research Initiative.
~	The National Environmental Monitoring and Research Initiative includes a pilot project
in the Mid-Atlantic region, and the CENR has produced a three-year strategy designed
to improve our understanding and integration of the linkages among air, land, water,
biota, and people that will contribute to better environmental decision making across
the Mid-Atlantic region. Understanding these linkages is critical to determining the
degree to which human development and economic needs may be sustained and
balanced with environmental health needs across the region.
~	In addition, this CENR pilot will add to our understanding of cause and effect of algal
blooms, and allow us to better document current nutrient levels in Mid-Atlantic
estuaries; thus, resulting in better management of Mid-Atlantic region coastal marine
resources. This knowledge is critical not only to our understanding of Pfiesteria in the
Chesapeake Bay area, but also that of other harmful marine organisms.

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Mid-Atlantic Integrated Assessment (MA1A)
ORD's labs at Narragansett, Rhode Island, and Gulf Breeze, Florida, are cooperating with a
number of Federal and State agencies in the Mid-Atlantic Integrated Assessment (MAIA).
This is a joint effort with the Chesapeake Bay Program, NOAA, National Parks Service,
Delaware Basin River Commission, and individual States in the region. The project is
designed to monitor the ecological condition of the estuaries of the Mid-Atlantic coast, with
over 150 stations sampled during the summer of 1997.
~	Although no direct monitoring for Pfiesteria was conducted in this project, a variety of
other chemical and biological parameters were addressed. These included benthic
community assemblages, nutrient chemistry, water quality, and sediment quality, all of
which are important in understanding factors contributing to outbreaks of Pfiesteria
and other harmful algae in the Chesapeake Bay region.
~	In 1998, MAIA will expand its sampling to include fish sampling protocols to obtain
measures of fish health. Included during the summer sampling were six sites in the
Pocomoke River and one site at the mouth of the Manokin River, both of which have
experienced dinoflagellate blooms this summer, as well as selected sites within other
small shallow estuaries.
~	The data from the Pocomoke and Manokin rivers will be used to improve our
understanding of, among other things, the roles of nutrients and sediments and their
relative contributions to environmental problems in these small estuaries. One goal of
this study is to identify other waters that are at risk of Pfiesteria outbreaks based on
the characteristics of those systems.
Human Health Research
Staff from ORD's lab at Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, have been involved in the
human health aspects of Pfiesteria. Since the initially-recorded outbreaks of Pfiesteria in the
Pamlico and Neuse River (North Carolina), the poisoning of North Carolina State (NCS)
researchers Drs. Burkholder and Glasgow, and the resulting neurotoxicological effects on
these and other NCS researchers, ORD staff have met with Dr. Burkholder and Duke
University researchers to discuss Pfiesteria, research needs, and collaborative research.
~	As a result of this collaboration, the results of preliminary research by Dr. Levin
(Duke University) into the potential learning and memory deficits caused by Pfiesteria
indicated that acute exposures of rats to crude cell extracts of Pfiesteria caused a
learning deficit.
~	In 1996, ORD funded Dr. Levin ($25,000) to conduct additional research to
systematically replicate the results of these initial experiments. This work is nearing
completion and a final report is due November, 1997.

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Fish Kill Research
ORD's lab at Gulf Breeze, Florida, is currently working collaboratively with the U.S.
Geological Survey (USGS) to investigate fish kills in the Pocomoke River that are believed
the result of an outbreak of Pfiesteria.
~	Because ORD has concerns about the effectiveness of procedures currently used to
identify the causative agent in outbreaks of harmful algae, the USGS will be
performing a series of immune function assays to assess any probable association with
Pfiesteria. ORD is conducting histopathological examinations of seven species of fish
from surrounding fish kill areas in an attempt to identify the causes, and to determine
if Pfiesteria is present.
Harmful Algal Bloom Workshop
In support of its role as ORD's representative to the Interagency Committee for Harmful
Algal Blooms, ORD's lab at Gulf Breeze, Florida, in collaboration with ORD's lab at
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, are sponsoring a Harmful Algal Bloom Workshop
which will address Pfiesteria, on October 6-7, 1997 in Pensacola Beach, Florida.
~	While the immediate focus of concern is on the potentially harmful dinoflagellate
Pfiesteria, there is a much larger context in which to view the Pfiesteria problem;
harmful blooms of a number of other organisms. There are many different types of
toxins potentially harmful to humans that are produced by a variety of other water-
borne organisms.
~	At this upcoming workshop, health and ecological scientists from federal agencies,
universities, and state environmental departments will be assembled to identify research
needs and information gaps. Based on input from this workshop, EPA's ORD will
draft a long-term research strategy for Harmful Algal Blooms that will include the
critical research needs identified, in part, during the workshop.

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