FGCU researchers install filtration devices to collect air particles from HABs

We may not have blue-green algae around now, but we should be ready if it comes back.

That’s why FGCU researchers are testing toxin levels now so they can compare what we breathe in when there are actually algae in the water.

Thanks to funding from the Florida Department of Health, researchers installed filtration devices in hopes of collecting air particles that develop from harmful algal blooms.

“The idea is we’ll be doing this over several years,” said Dr. Mike Parsons, a professor at the Water School at FGCU.

Something council member Jessica Cosden says has been a slow but worthwhile effort. “It was slow but it happened. We’re getting the information, we’re answering these questions we were just unable to answer. Two years ago, we just didn’t have the answers.”

FGCU’s research complements that of Florida Atlantic University. FGCU will focus on toxins in the air while FAU will see how it impacts the human body.