Algal bloom monitoring service

Algal bloom monitoring service
Blooms of hazardous blue-green algae in rivers, lakes, and reservoirs can cause problems for both animal and human health. How can you find out if an algal bloom is potentially toxic? NIWA is now operating a laboratory specialising in the analysis of blue-green algae. The new service provides a one-stop shop for algal counts and toxin testing, with the toxin testing provided by NIWA and AgResearch.

28 February 2007

Algal bloom monitoring service

Blooms of hazardous blue-green algae in rivers, lakes, and reservoirs can cause problems for both animal and human health. How can you find out if an algal bloom is potentially toxic? NIWA is now operating a laboratory specialising in the analysis of blue-green algae. The new service provides a one-stop shop for algal counts and toxin testing, with the toxin testing provided by NIWA and AgResearch. The laboratory provides three standard services.

A bloom of the blue-green alga Microcystis in Lake Rotoehu (Bay of Plenty).
  1. Analysis of what blue-green algae are present and whether the species are potentially toxic.
  2. Cell counts of blue-green algal species and identification of potentially toxic species.
  3. Toxin testing for microcystin and nodularin toxins. (Methods for quantification of other toxins are currently being developed.)

For further information, or specialist algal bloom services, contact us by email at [email protected] or call Karl Safi on +64 7 856 1716.

No.05 2004