Inadmissible Planktons in Potable Water: A Potential Risk for Human Health

Water pollution is a major concern influencing human lives in many ways. It affects not only the nature of potable water, but also the health of those who consume it. Hazardous water pollutants are broadly categorized into soluble toxicants and toxic planktons. The presence of planktons in potable water causes a negative impact on the human body. The inadmissible planktons of potable water such as copepods, protozoans, helminths, anilids, blue-green algae, dinoflagellates, and diatoms can lead to severe dysfunction in the normal physiology of humans. Complications of the gastrointestinal tract, hepatobiliary system and brain result from drinking polluted water. Toxins such as cyanobacterial toxin, saxitoxin, neosaxitoxin and domoic acid are by-products of the inadmissible planktons which cause adverse effects on the human organ systems. They also derange the percentage of dissolved oxygen in the water bodies. The health-related consequences of the planktons range from cell damage to mortality.