By James Pero For Dailymail.com
Published: 22:57 GMT, 20 March 2019 | Updated: 23:00 GMT, 20 March 2019
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A new study warns that toxic chemicals stemming from blue green algae has been found in dead dolphins and could be linked to a degenerative brain condition likened to Alzheimer's.
In the paper, researchers say detectable amounts of the toxin BMAA -- found in harmful algal blooms -- was observed for the first time in the brains and bodies of 13 of the 14 dolphins studied.
Along with that observation, the paper says symptoms and conditions similar to the effects of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease were also detected.
Adverse effects in dolphins could be harbinger to increased algae-born toxins in our oceans and waterways.
Technically called cyanobacteria, the ancient class of organisms that create the blooms are present nearly everywhere water is found, but thrive in warm, still bodies like lakes and ponds.
They also create a unique class of toxins, the impact of which on humans is only partly understood.
Long linked to animal deaths, high doses of the toxins in humans can cause liver damage and attack the nervous system.
In the largest outbreaks, hundreds have been sickened by blooms in reservoirs and lakes, and officials in some areas now routinely close bodies of water used for
