Cyanobacteria, water quality and public health implications: a systematic scoping review

Cyanobacteria pose a significant threat to human health. Knowledge of the most prominent physical parameters related with cyanobacterial growth not only aids water monitoring but public health risk management, to enable rapid local responses to changing water quality conditions. This paper is a systematic scoping review of Australian environmental studies that examined a link between cyanobacterial growth and one or more specific physical water quality parameters. The 34 included articles showed a consistent correlation between water quality parameters and cyanobacterial growth. Temperature and light exposure were positively correlated with cyanobacteria in all studies. Salinity, flow, wind speed and turbidity were negatively correlated with cyanobacteria in all studies. Geographically, majority of the studies focussed on the Murray-Darling Basin. The consistency across studies indicates a potential for broader environmental monitoring criteria to aid in both water quality management and public health response to cyanobacterial bloom formation.