Blue-green algal blooms in Lough Neagh could have a profound ecological impact and present potentially significant environmental and public health risks, researchers at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) have found. Their work has confirmed the lough’s hypertrophic status—the worst category of waterway nutrient pollution. More than 80 per cent of the bacterial DNA tested from algal mats belonged to potentially hazardous microbes, including E.coli, Salmonella and 11 others that can cause human illness. The scientists tested samples from mats of algae at Toome Lock, Rea’s Wood, Antrim Boathouse and Ram’s Island in the East of the Lough in 2023. They found the samples to be “dominated” by bacteria associated with wildfowl or livestock faeces or human-effluent wastewater treatment.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/