Lake Erie

About Lake Erie:

• It is the fourth largest of the five Great Lakes of North America.
• It forms the boundary between Canada (Ontario) to the north and the United States to the west, south, and east.
• The lake’s principal tributary rivers are the Detroit (carrying the discharge of Lake Huron), Huron, and Raisin rivers of Michigan etc.
• The lake discharges at its eastern end through the Niagara River.
• It is an important link in the St. Lawrence Seaway.

What is Microcystin?

• It is a single-celled freshwater cyanobacterium that forms colonies surrounded by mucilage.
• The genus Microcystis contains several species which often form massive blooms and which produce toxins.
• Microcystin is a potent liver toxin and possible human carcinogen.
• It inhibits the activities of protein phosphatase-1 and protein phosphatase-2A, which leads to disruption of the cytoskeleton network and subsequent cell death.

Q1: What is a carcinogen?

It is a substance, organism or agent capable of causing cancer. Carcinogens may occur naturally in the environment (such as ultraviolet rays in sunlight and certain viruses) or may be generated by humans (such as automobile exhaust fumes and cigarette smoke).

News: Researchers in a lab near Lake Erie study how toxic algae can damage health

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