SAMPLING AND ANALYSIS PLAN FOR THE REGIONAL EXAMINATION OF HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS (REHAB) _____________________________________________________________ SUBMITTED TO: King County Water and Land Resources Division Department of Natural Resources and Parks 201 South Jackson Street, Suite 600 Seattle, Washington 98104 SUBMITTED BY: Beth Cullen, Water Quality Planner I King County Freshwater Assessment King County Water and Land Resources Division Department of Natural Resources and Parks January 2009 _____________________________________________________________ NAME OF PROJECT: Sampling and Analysis Plan for the Regional Examination of Harmful Algal Blooms (REHAB) PROJECT NUMBER: PREPARED BY: Beth Cullen, King County DNRP Water Quality Planner I Water and Land Resources Division Fran Sweeney, Aquatic Toxicology Supervisor, King County Environmental Lab Gabriela Hannach, Environmental Lab Scientist II, Aquatic Toxicology, King County Environmental Lab Jim Buckley, Environmental Lab Scientist III, Aquatic Toxicology, King County Environmental Lab Joan Hardy, Toxicologist, Washington State Department of Health APPROVED BY: Aquatic Toxicology Supervisor, Fran Sweeney __________________________Date________ King County Environmental Laboratory: Laboratory QA Officer, Colin Elliott King County Environmental Laboratory _________________________Date________ Grant Manager, Joan Hardy Washington State Department of Healthy _________________________Date________ Data/Field Manager, Beth Cullen King County Water and Land Resources Division _________________________Date________ 03/18/09 2 Regional Examination of Harmful Algal Blooms Sampling Analysis Plan TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................... 5 1.1 PROJECT BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................. 8 1.2 REGULATORY STATUS OF CYANOTOXIN CRITERIA AND GUIDELINES ............................................. 9 1.3 STUDY AREA DESCRIPTION............................................................................................................. 9 1.4 PROJECT OBJECTIVES .................................................................................................................... 12 2 STUDY DESIGN...................................................................................................... 12 2.1 APPROACH .................................................................................................................................... 12 2.2 TIMELINE ...................................................................................................................................... 14 2.3 SAMPLING PROCEDURES ............................................................................................................... 14 2.3.1 Water sample collection and storage procedure to test for toxins: ...................................... 15 2.3.2 Water sample collection and storage procedure for quantitative identification of cyanobacteria. .............................................................................................................................................................. 15 3 LABORATORY ANALYSIS.................................................................................. 16 3.1 SAMPLE PREPARATION FOR ALGAL TOXIN ELISA........................................................................ 16 3.1.1 Cell Lysing Procedure for Microcystins and Cylindrospermopsin....................................... 16 3.1.2 Sample Preparation: Preservation Procedure for Saxitoxin................................................ 16 3.1.3 Microcystins– ELISA ............................................................................................................ 17 3.1.4 Cylindrospermopsin ELISA .................................................................................................. 17 3.1.5 Saxitoxin ELISA.................................................................................................................... 17 3.2 ANATOXIN-A ................................................................................................................................. 18 3.2.2. Chromatography…………………………………………………………………………………............18 3.2.3 Method Detection Limits………………………………………………………………………………….19 3.3 ANALYTICAL PROCEDURES ........................................................................................................... 19 3.4 LABORATORY MICROSCOPIC ANALYSES OF PHYTOPLANKTON SAMPLES ...................................... 20 4 DATA QUALITY OBJECTIVES........................................................................... 20 4.1 LABORATORY PRECISION .............................................................................................................. 20 4.2 FIELD PRECISION........................................................................................................................... 20 4.3 BIAS .............................................................................................................................................. 21 4.4 REPRESENTATIVENESS .................................................................................................................. 21 4.4.1 Representativeness and precision of phytoplankton density estimates ................................. 21 4.5 COMPARABILITY ........................................................................................................................... 21 4.6 COMPLETENESS............................................................................................................................. 21 5 DATA REDUCTION, REVIEW, AND REPORTING......................................... 22 5.1 TOXIN DATA .................................................................................................................................. 22 6 PROJECT ORGANIZATION................................................................................ 22 7 QUALITY CONTROL PROCEDURES ............................................................... 23 7.1 FIELD QUALITY CONTROL PROCEDURES....................................................................................... 23 7.2 LABORATORY QUALITY CONTROL PROCEDURES .......................................................................... 24 7.2.1 Frequency of quality control samples................................................................................... 24 7.3 CORRECTIVE ACTION .................................................................................................................... 26 8 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................. 27 03/18/09 3 Regional Examination of Harmful Algal Blooms Sampling Analysis Plan LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1. GENERAL FEATURES OF CYANOTOXINS (MODIFIED FROM CHORUS AND BARTRAM 1999). ................................................................................................................ 6 TABLE 2. STATIONS AND SAMPLING PARAMETERS AT EACH LOCATION...................... 10 TABLE 3. SAMPLE CONTAINER & PRESERVATION REQUIREMENTS ............................. 14 TABLE 4. LABORATORY ANALYSIS SUMMARY ............................................................... 19 TABLE 5. PROJECT TEAM MEMBERS.............................................................................. 23 TABLE 6. LABORATORY QUALITY CONTROL SAMPLES................................................. 24 TABLE 7. LABORATORY QC REQUIREMENTS ................................................................ 26 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1: LOCATION OF 30 LAKES PARTICIPATING IN REHAB PROJECT IN THE THREE COUNTY AREA, WASHINGTON. ................................................................................................. 11 03/18/09 4 Regional Examination of Harmful Algal Blooms Sampling Analysis Plan 1 INTRODUCTION Toxic cyanobacteria have been detected at a growing rate in western Washington lakes since the first documented toxic episode in American Lake in 1989 (Jacoby et al. 1994, Jacoby and Kann 2007). State health officials are concerned that the rate of occurrence appears to be increasing over time, leading to the possibility of increased human and animal exposure to cyanotoxins. Toxic cyanobacteria blooms are emerging as a national and international environmental and public health issue (Ecology 2007). Mass accumulations or “blooms” of cyanobacteria in freshwater ecosystems are caused in part by nutrient enrichment. Cyanobacteria blooms can cause surface scums, decreased water column transparency, dissolved oxygen depletion and unpalatable drinking water due to taste and odors. Some cyanobacteria also produce toxic compounds (cyanotoxins) that have caused livestock, wildlife and pet fatalities worldwide (reviewed by Carmichael 1994; Chorus 2001). Although many cyanobacteria blooms are not toxic, a bloom that is not toxic one day may become toxic during the same growing season. Cyanotoxins include a broad, diverse range of chemicals and mechanisms of toxicity (Carmichael 1994; Sivonen and Jones 1999). Major classes of cyanotoxins include the cyclic peptides, which are primarily hepatotoxins (microcystins and nodularins); alkaloids and an organophosphate, which are strong neurotoxins (anatoxin-a, anatoxin-a (s), and saxitoxins); a cyclic guanide alkaloid, which inhibits protein synthesis (cylindrospermopsin); lipopolysaccharides, which have pyrogenic properties; and dermatoxic