Researchers from the Cienfuegos Center for Environmental Studies (CEAC) are participating in the “Regional training course on the physical-chemical analysis of water to determine the trophic state and the analysis of microcystins”, sponsored by the International Atomic Energy Agency in Colombia.

Microcystins are toxins produced by certain species of cyanobacteria, which proliferate in eutrophic surface waters and are toxic to humans. The methodologies learned, once implemented in Cuba, could contribute to the evaluation of the risk of intoxication due to the proliferation of these microorganisms.

The event, which brought together scientists from several Latin American and Caribbean countries, is developed as part of an international collaboration project at the Marine and Coastal Research Institute “José Benito Vives de Andres” – INVEMAR, in Santa Marta, Colombia.

The purpose of the scientific activity was to train the participants in quality assurance issues in the performance of physical-chemical analysis of water, as well as to identify weaknesses of the region’s laboratories in the implementation of analytical methods, as was explained by Leydis Aldana Moraga, CEAC’s Research, Innovation, and Development Specialist, one of the Cuban representatives at the event.

The expert emphasized to PL that another purpose of the course was to disseminate the standardized manual in the region for the analysis of variables required to determine the trophic state.

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