title: Marine aerosol as a possible source for endotoxins in coastal areas.
abstract: Marine aerosols, that are very common in the highly populated coastal cities and communities, may contain biological constituents. Some of this biological fraction of marine aerosols, such as cyanobacteria and plankton debris, may influence human health by inflammation and allergic reactions when inhaled. In this study we identify and compare sources for endotoxins sampled on filters in an on-shore and more-inland site. Filter analysis included endotoxin content, total bacteria, gram-negative bacteria and cyanobacteria genome concentrations as well as ion content in order to identify possible sources for the endotoxins. Satellite images of chlorophyll-a levels and back trajectory analysis were used to further study the cyanobacteria blooms in the sea, close to the trajectory of the sampled air. The highest endotoxin concentrations found in the shoreline site were during winter (3.23±0.17 EU/m(3)), together with the highest cyanobacteria genome (1065.5 genome/m(3)). The elevated endotoxin concentrations were significantly correlated with cyanobacterial levels scaled to the presence of marine aerosol (r=0.90), as well as to chlorophyll-a (r=0.96). Filters sampled further inland showed lower and non-significant correlation between endotoxin and cyanobacteria (r=0.70, P value=0.19), suggesting decrease in marine-originated endotoxin, with possible contributions from other sources of gram-negative non-cyanobacteria. We conclude that marine cyanobacteria may be a dominant contributor to elevated endotoxin levels in coastal areas.
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel.
authors.forename: Naama
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lang-Yona
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel.
authors.forename: Yoav
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lehahn
authors.affiliation: Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research, National Institute of Oceanography, Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Barak
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Herut
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel.
authors.forename: Noa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Burshtein
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. Electronic address: yinon.rudich@weizmann.ac.il.
authors.forename: Yinon
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Rudich
mesh_terms: D000336:Aerosols / Q000032:analysis*; D000391:Air Microbiology; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004731:Endotoxins / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring
chemical_list: D000336:Aerosols; D000393:Air Pollutants; D004731:Endotoxins
keywords: Cyanobacteria; Endotoxin; Filter sampling; Health effects; Marine aerosols; genomic analysis