SECTION: Local; Pg. C1
LENGTH: 719 words
HEADLINE: TESTS TO FIND WATER ILLNESS INCONCLUSIVE
BYLINE: Debi Pelletier of the News staff
BODY:
Five people showed no lingering effects from exposure to St.
Lucie River water.
The state is designing a test study to track about a dozen
people who "have direct contact with the water" in the
St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers.
STUART - If there are toxic microscopic critters in the St.
Lucie River, many people in the area risk exposure because the
waterway is heavily used for recreation, a health researcher said
Tuesday.
However, Dr. Lynn Grattan said such human health problems probably
wouldn't be as extensive as those seen in states such as Maryland,
where the Pocomoke River is worked by watermen every day.
Grattan is a neuropsychologist with the University of Maryland
and one of the lead investigators into the human health effects
of Pfiesteria-related organisms. One of the Pfiesteria relatives
is Cryptoperidniopsis, which has been found in the St. Lucie River
estuary and is under investigation as a possible culprit in this
year's rash of fish lesions.
Grattan was invited to test five people in Stuart. None showed
any signs of neurocognitive impairment, such as loss of motor
skills, memory or learning ability, she said. But if these people
were exposed to Pfiesteria-related organisms, Grattan said, she
wouldn't expect anything other than normal results because their
exposures occurred nearly five months ago.
Of the 19 people studied in Maryland, where there was a large
Pfiesteria outbreak last year, 17 recovered in three months, the
other two in six months, she said.
Grattan learned of the five patients through Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker
of Pocomoke City. Shoemaker led the push in Maryland to study
human health >effects of toxic dinoflagellates, the family
of microorganisms that includes >Pfiesteria and Crypto. Since
then, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention >have
developed a list of exposure symptoms and provided millions of
dollars to six coastal states, including Florida, to study what
it calls "estuary-associated syndrome."
The state is designing a study to track about a dozen people
who have >direct contact with the water in the St. Lucie and
Caloosahatchee rivers, said Alan Rowan, who recently was hired
with CDC funds to oversee the effort. Once this study is complete,
officials will decide whether to conduct a much larger surveillance
study.
Shoemaker consulted local physicians after learning about the
outbreak of lesions among fish in the St. Lucie River. He has
spoken to five people who complained of memory loss and other
problems after being exposed to the St. Lucie River in February
and March.
Although there is "robust" evidence of a link between
Pfiesteria and human illness, Grattan said, work continues on
isolating the toxins produced by the organism and developing tests
to determine if they're in the body and how they got there. However,
Pfiesteria has not been found here.
In the meantime, state Rep. Ken Pruitt, a Republican from Port
St. >Lucie, is seeking $ 300,000 to test Shoemaker's theory
that copper and fungicides often used in agriculture are to blame.
Shoemaker thinks the two work together to kill the microalga's
food source, causing it to go into its reproductive - and toxic
- phase. He said the chemicals also kill the plankton that eat
the dinoflagellates at that stage.
Shoemaker said state officials in Maryland have begun the necessary
testing and have done "a complete about-face" on the
theory.
"They're now getting ready to convene a symposium of international
>scientists looking at heavy metals and fungicides in the estuary,"
he said. "I tell >you, I feel really validated in all
this. I've been screaming about it for a year."
Pruitt said he's hoping the state Department of Health or the
Department of Environmental Protection can "front" the
$ 300,000 until next year's budget, when they would be reimbursed
- similar to what happened with the St. Lucie County childhood
cancer investigation.
"We know there's a problem out there," he said. "Whether
it's the fish or people, there's definitely a problem."
But he said it's doubtful either agency can spare the money,
so the river testing might have to wait until the next fiscal
year.
Shoemaker isn't worried.
"I don't think the dinoflagellates will be leaving the estuary anytime >soon,"
he said.
GRAPHIC: 2 (color) photos by Judy Spencer: Dr. Lynn Grattan of
the >University of Maryland talks Tuesday with WTCN's Bill
Brothers at the Stuart television studio. Above, Grattan, an associate
professor of neurology, pauses during the interview.
LOAD-DATE: June 24, 1998