Is Algae the link to ALS & Other Neurodegenerative

Illnesses?

Venturi Aeration, Inc.John M. Salonich

ALS Clusters Identified• ALS Researchers investigate for common

links in known cases.• Map plotting revealed clusters of ALS

cases in New England States.• What was the common element?• Many live near large bodies of water• What substance in the water could be

cause?• Blue-Green algal blooms - cyanobacteria

• ~5,600 new ALS cases diagnosed each year

• Researchers “assume” ALS has some unknown interaction between genes and the environment that are responsible for degeneration of cells.

• There are also clusters for other neurodegenerative disorders, i.e. Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s dementia

Elijah Stommel - Dartmouth • Identified ALS patients in a cluster from

same NH town – Enfield, NH• All lived near Lake Mascoma• Theorized based on other research* that

BMAA in cyanobacteria might be link• Other ALS clusters identified in New

England all live near lakes with poor water quality and algal blooms

• Is diet of seafood or other common link?

Sampling Technique

• Questionnaire sent to ALS patients• Not all ate seafood from local lakes/ocean• Common element was air quality• Collection of Airborne Aerosol samples• Toxins analyzed• Predominate algal toxin ID’d is BMAA (β-N-methylamino-L-alanine)

BMAA Being Aerolized

• The air at the air/water interface was sampled

• BMAA aerolized by agitation and sun• The body may mistake BMAA for the

amino acid L-serine • When ingested the toxin enters proteins

which become “misfolded” and they no longer function properly and damage cells

Actions• Clinical approach is to determine if larges doses

of L-serine will “outcompete” BMAA inhibiting it from being incorporated into proteins in the body

• Improve water quality, reduce N-P levels in runoff that contibute to blue-green algae blooms

• Inhibit formation of cyanobacteria blooms that generate BMAA

• Other treatment technologies exist for enhancing water quality inhibiting algal blooms, they are aeration and sonication.