TOLEDO, Ohio — Funded through grants and the Ohio Department of Education, the University of Toledo is conducting two studies furthering algal research.
The first study will collect air from the lake, where it will then be transported back to UT for testing.
"We're going to put a monitoring station out at the Great Lakes Center where we'll be able to collect aerosols off the lake all throughout the year. Before the bloom, during the bloom and after the bloom," said Dr. Steven Haller, UT associate professor of medicine and head of research for the project.
Once data is collected in the field, it's analyzed further at UT.
"We can then take those toxins and bring them back here in the lab and we can aerosolize them on human cells and we can see and look for things like markers of inflammation to see what these toxins are actually doing to human cells," Haller said.
He said the study focuses on how algal blooms affect humans.
"We started in the lab, and our big question was, a lot of the studies looking at these cyanotoxins from harmful algal blooms that can be released from harmful algal blooms. A lot of the initial studies were done in just healthy settings. So our take on it is well not everyone walking around is healthy," Haller said. "What if you have asthma? What if you have liver disease? Should those be particular areas of concern? so we have ways of modeling that using human cells in the lab."
Clinical research manager Jennifer Gilmore says the second study will follow 200 volunteers who live near the lake.
"Basically anybody that's within half a mile of the Lake Erie shoreline in the counties of Sandusky, Lucas and Ottawa can participate," Gilmore said. "There's a lot of questions around this algal bloom and a lot of people want to know how it affects them. And I, for one, recreate around the lake, too. I want to know how it affects me and my family."
For the next five years, participants will meet with researchers three times a year where noninvasive tests will be performed to gather cells.
"We collect the data we do the work and give it to the scientists. They look at it, examine it and go from there," Gilmore explained. "When the patients come in, we do the actual assessments on them. We have them come in and sign a consent form after we've explained the whole study to them, we explain their role in it and what we are going to do. If they're okay with that, we have them sign and then begin study activities."
Haller said UT is looking to address concerns and answer questions the community and researchers have had for years.
"A lot of people in the community are really concerned. They want to know, I'm hearing about this stuff now getting in the air. I know you could potentially drink it and that's probably not good," he said. "We want to make sure we provide those answers and right now we don't know, we don't have the data yet. That's why we're doing this study."
Haller said the reason a study like this had never been conducted before is because researchers needed to gather lots of data before coming ashore to find more answers.
"We had to gather a wealth of data to get to this point," he said.
Haller's team has some ideas going into the study, too.
"Just based on what we've seen in the lab, the hypothesis is that if you have preexisting asthma, this may make it worse, though we have not proven that yet. But really, we don't go in with any preconceived notions," he said.
No matter what the team finds, Haller says it will be important to help answer questions the community and researchers have wondered for years.
"Both answers are just as important to tell people, 'Hey, guess what we didn't see any symptoms so maybe things aren't as bad, maybe you don't have to worry as much,'" he said. "That message is just as important as saying, 'Hey, we're seeing some signs of inflammation here, let's take a step back and use some caution and think about how we're approaching this."