A blue-green algae advisory has been issued for Lac La Biche Lake, and Alberta Health Services is advising the public to be careful around the body of water.
Residents living near the shores of this lake, as well as visitors to this lake, are advised to take the following precautions:
- Avoid all contact with cyanobacterial blooms. If contact occurs, wash with tap water as soon as possible.
- Do not swim or wade or allow your pets to swim or wade in any areas where cyanobacteria is visible.
- Do not feed whole fish or fish trimmings from this lake to your pets.
- Consider limiting human consumption of whole fish and fish trimmings from this lake, as it is known that fish may store toxins in their liver. (People can safely consume fish fillets from this lake).
- Do not use water contaminated with cyanobacteria to water edible plants. This is particularly important for plants with edible parts exposed to the ground surface (such as cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes, and other salad vegetables).
People who come in contact with visible cyanobacteria or who ingest water containing cyanobacteria may experience skin irritation, rash, sore throat, sore red eyes, swollen lips, fever, nausea and vomiting and/or diarrhea. Symptoms usually appear within one to three hours and resolve in one to two days with symptoms in children often more pronounced.
Cyanobacteria is naturally occurring and often becomes visible when weather conditions are calm. Appearing like scum, grass clippings, fuzz, or globs on the surface of water, cyanobacteria can be blue-green, greenish-brown, brown, and/or pinkish-red, and often smell musty or grassy.
Visitors and residents are reminded to never drink or cook with untreated water directly from any recreational body of water, including Lac La Biche Lake, at any time. Boiling of this water will not remove the toxins produced by cyanobacteria.
