On Thursday, Climate and Environment Minister Anna Moskwa informed that the Institute of Inland Fisheries in Olsztyn had discovered the so-called blooming golden algae can cause the appearance of deadly toxins for fish and mussels.
Professor Mazur-Marzec from the Department of Marine Biotechnology at the Institute of Oceanography of the University of Gdańsk noted that they had received phytoplankton samples from the Odra River from the IRŚ. – The microscopic analysis carried out by the IRŚ showed that there is Prymnesium parvum (so called golden seaweed). Our job was to find out if this organism produces toxic compounds, she says.
Continuous analysis
– In the laboratory, we carried out analyzes by mass spectrometry. In most samples, at various concentrations, analyzes showed the presence of potent toxic compounds – ichthyotoxins. These compounds are primnesins. Their name comes from the generic name of the microalga that produces them, which is Prymnesium parvum – informed Pr. Mazurie-Mars.
As she noted, 70 samples with the material on the filter have been delivered to the University of Gdańsk so far. – In collaboration with doctoral student Robert Konkel we’ve been doing analyzes all the time since Saturday. We still have about 30 samples left – she added.
The scientist pointed out that the ichthyoxins produced by Prymnesium parvum are very strong. – They shock the nervous system. The fish die quickly. It seems to me that this is the cause of the mass death of fish in the Oder, because it is the effects of these toxins, she says.
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The professor added that this type of violent phenomena, as in the Odra River, are very well described in the world, also in the case of other structurally very similar toxic compounds.
– When I discovered that there could be a Prymnesium parvum in the Odra, everything fell into a logical whole. Also these symptoms in the form of an increased concentration of oxygen and an increase in the pH of the water – underlined the scientist.
She noted that she dismissed early suspicions in advance that the cause of the fish’s deaths could be cyanobacterial toxins.. As she pointed out, they would not cause such acute fish poisoning. “The second option was that it could be dinoflagellates, but to my knowledge, the toxic species of these microalgae are only found in seas, not in rivers,” added the professor.
