6 APRIL 2021 While some blue-green algae (or more accurately - cyanobacteria) are critical to us for their nitrogen-fixing abilities, others can also become dangerous pests of our own making.
Climate change and agricultural run-off are causing a once normal environmental process to spiral out of control more often, and a new study has shown that a particularly dangerous toxin produced by cyanobacteria is not just hitching a ride in water, but also in our air in some cases. The toxin, called anatoxin-a (ATX) or Very Fast Death Factor (no, we're not kidding), does what it says on the tin - kills things fast. If you are unfortunate enough to be exposed it can cause a loss of coordination, paralysis, or death in humans and other animals.