Upper Mystic Lake Toxic Algae Warning: Arlington Health Officials

ARLINGTON, MA — Don't swim or let your dog go into Upper Mystic Lake right now. That's the message out of the Arlington Public Health office after high levels of blue-green algae that can be toxic to humans in high volumes were detected in the Upper Mystic Lake during a recent water sampling conducted by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

“To prevent sickness and skin irritation, we strongly advise community members and those with pets to avoid contact with Mystic Lake,”Arlington Public Health's Natasha Waden said. “‘We will be monitoring this situation closely and will let the public know as soon as it’s safe to resume activities in the lake.”

And that's at least two weeks away.

"I would say at the minimum two weeks from July 5," said Waden. In the mean time? "We are urging residents not to go. Strongly urging. There are people who are probably going to try to do that, but we want to get them all the info and let them know just what's at stake."

The state will collect water samples on a weekly basis until cell counts drop to safe levels, said Arlington Public Health in a statement. An advisory will remain in effect until cell counts drop and remain at safe levels for two consecutive weeks, according to Arlington Health.

This particular type of algae called cyanobacteria can be toxic if ingested in high doses and can cause skin irritation and a rash after wading or swimming. The Arlington Board of Health strongly advises residents not to swim or stand in the water and urges pet owners to keep their animals away from the water.

This comes a week after Shannon Beach was closed on account of the same issue, Patch reported.

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The state health department collected the sample from a portion of the lake in Winchester last week, following a report from a resident that algae had bloomed in the body of water. Arlington officials received notification of the high levels of cyanobacteria on Monday night.

Cyanobacteria algae grows naturally beneath or on the surface of many bodies of water. During warm or hot weather or an abundance of nutrients in the water such as can happen after a heavy rain, it can cause the algae to have a growthspurt of sorts creating dense, floating mats of it throughout the water. This is what folks refer to as an “algae bloom.”

Experts say that contact with high levels of the cyanobacteria algae has been found to contribute to eye, ear and skin irritation. And if you your your pet ingest water as you swim (and we know your dog does) doing so when there's elevated concentrations of the algae can lead to more serious health effects such as muscle cramps, twitching and liver damage - or in some cases, worse:

"Adverse health outcomes from exposure to cyanotoxins may range from a mild skin rash to serious illness or death," according to the EPA.

DPH will continue to collect samples on a weekly basis until cell counts drop to safe levels, at which point the Arlington Board of Health will notify the community, reported John Guilfoil Public Relations.

Read up on Cyanobacteria from the EPA here.

Photo By Doc Searls[CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons