AFRICAN AND ASIAN DUST, CORAL REEFS, AND HUMAN HEALTH VH Garrison 1, RS Carr 2, WT Foreman 3, M Gray 1, DW Griffin 1, CA Kellogg 1, MS Majewski 4, A Mohammed 8, M Monteil 8, M Nipper 2, C Orazio 7, A Ramsubhag 8, EA Shinn 1, SA Simonich 5 and GW Smith 6 February 2006 MAIN FIGURE: World map showing African and Asian dust systems and collaborator locations. OVERVIEW Hundreds of millions of tons of African dust are transported annually from the Sahara and Sahel to the Caribbean and southeastern U.S. A similar dust system in Asia carries dust from the Gobi and Taklimakan deserts across Korea, Japan, and the northern Pacific to the Hawaiian Islands, the western U.S., to Europe and beyond. Although these global atmospheric systems have been transporting fine soil particles for hundreds of thousands of years, the quantities of dust vary annually as a result of global climate, local meteorology, geomorphology of source areas, and human activities. It is thought that the quality of the dust has changed as a result of human-related changes in the source regions and areas over which the dust travels: burning of biomass and waste; use of antibiotics, pharmaceuticals, and pesticides; increased industrialization. We hypothesize that air masses carrying African and Asian dust transport living microorganisms and synthetic organic chemicals thousands of kilometers and that these chemical and microbial contaminants are adversely affecting coral reefs and human health. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS FROM AFRICAN DUST SYSTEM INVESTIGATIONS 1. Synthetic organic chemical contaminants (pesticides, PAHs and PCBs) have been identified in air samples from the US Virgin Islands (USVI) and Trinidad during dust conditions and from Mali. Air samples from Mali contained higher concentrations of the same suite of organic contaminants than USVI and Trinidad air samples. Many of the contaminants are known endocrine disruptors. 2. As of August 2005, preliminary identification has been made of >300 species of microorganisms cultured from air samples collected on St. Croix, St. John (USVI) and Trinidad during dust and non-dust conditions. Air samples collected during dust events in the USVI and Trinidad contain approximately 2-3 times as many culturable microorganisms per volume as do air samples collected during non-dust conditions. Of those species identified to date, 25% are known plant pathogens and 10% are known opportunistic pathogens of humans. 3. Air in Mali contains orders of magnitude more microorganisms per volume than air sampled in the downwind areas (USVI and Trinidad) and more species. Of the hundreds of microorganisms cultured and isolated from Sahara and Sahel (Mali, West Africa) air samples, DNA sequencing has been used to identify 50 species of bacteria (and 3 genera of fungi). Of the culturable bacteria identified thus far, 10% are known animal pathogens, 5% are plant pathogens, and 27% are opportunistic human pathogens. 4. A pilot study found that dust collected in the VI during African dust conditions was toxic to gametes and embryos of some marine organisms. 5. The pathogenic strain of the fungus known to cause sea fan disease and mortality of sea fans throughout the Caribbean region has been isolated from: a. lesions of diseased sea fans b. air samples collected in the USVI during African dust conditions but not from non-dust periods c. soil from the Sahel (Mali) d. sediment from the Gulf of Paria (SE Caribbean)near the mouth of the Orinoco River SAMPLING SITES: CENTRAL PACIFIC Hawaii Collaborators in Hawaii _ Mauna Loa Observatory, NOAA _ WRD, USGS _ State of Hawaii DAR _ Fish & Wildlife Service figures (top to bottom): 1. Map of the main Hawaiian Islands; red dots indicate sampling sites. 2. Chemical air sampler at Mauna Loa Observatory (11,000 feet elevation) 3. B. Carman and W. Walsh (State of Hawaii, Department of Aquatic Resources) installing a semipermeable membrane device sampler next to a coral reef off the Kona Coast, Hawaii. NORTHEASTERN CARIBBEAN St. John & St. Croix, US Virgin Islands Collaborators in Virgin Islands _ Virgin Islands National Park _ University of the Virgin Islands _ VI Territorial Marine Park figures (left to right): 1. Microorganisms growing in a petri dish. The microbes were collected by filtering the air during a dust event in the Caribbean. 2. The same view looking north toward Jost van Dyke (British Virgin Islands) from the north shore of St. John (US Virgin Islands): top view during a dust event in June 2000; bottom view from a clear day in August 2000. 3. Map of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. 4. Satellite image of dust event moving across Northwest Africa (NASA SeaWIFS image). 5. Seafan with active gorgonian aspergillosis - an infection caused by the fungus Aspergillus sydowii SAHEL Bamako, Mali Collaborators in Mali _ Ministry of Geology & Mines _ Ministry of Communications _ University of Mali, Faculty of Science & Technolog figures (clockwise from top): 1. The Djenne Mosque (Republic of Mali). 2. Microorganisms growing in a petri dish. The microbes were collected by filtering the air in Bamako, Mali. 3. View of the Niger River north of Bamako, Mali. 4. Collaborators collecting microbial samples in Bamako, Mali (F. Traore, D. Maiga, M. Coulibaly, A. Babana) 5. Saharan dust on a filter in Bamako, Mali. 6. Visibility during a moderate dust event north of Bamako, Mali. 7. Garbage being burned next to the Niger River in Bamako, Mali 8. Map of the Republic of Mali MEDITERRANEAN Erdemli-Icel, Turkey Collaborator in Turkey _ Middle East Technical University Figures (left to right): 1. Tower where microbial samples were collected at Erdemli-Icel, Turkey. 2. NASA SeaWIFs image of dust from Africa over Turkey. CAPE VERDE Sal Island Collaborator in Cape Verde _ National Institute of Meteorology and Geophysics figures (left to right): 1. Chemical samplers at Sal Island, Cape Verde. 2. Training a Cape Verde scientist to collect microbial samples at Sal Island, Cape Verde. SOUTHEASTERN CARIBBEAN Galera Point, Trinidad Collaborators in Trinidad _ University of the West Indies _ Environmental Management Authority _ Maritime Services figures (left to right): 1. Map of Trinidad; X on the northwest tip indicates the Galera Point site. 2. University of the West Indies (St. Augustine, Trinidad) collaborators (A. Mohammed, S. Maharaj) sampling dust at Galera Point, Trinidad. 3. View of pumps and timers in chemical samplers at Galera Point Lighthouse. 4. Galera Point Lighthouse where air samples are collected in Trinidad. 5. A PM 2.5 sampler on top of the lighthouse at Galera Point, Trinidad. 6. View to the east from the sampling site at Galera Point, Trinidad. AUTHOR AFFILIATIONS 1 BRD and GD, FISC, USGS St. Petersburg, Florida Project Coordination, Sclerochronology, Microorganism identification, sampling network Method development 2 BRD, CERC, USGS Corpus Christi, Texas Marine Ecotoxicology 3 WRD, USGS Denver, Colorado Organic Contaminant Analysis - Method development 4 WRD, USGS Sacramento, California Organic Contaminant Analysis - Method development 5 Oregon State University Corvallis, Oregon Organic Contaminant Analysis 6 University of South Carolina, Aiken Marine Microorganisms 7 BRD, CERC, USGS Columbia, Missouri Organic Contaminant Analysis - Reef waters 8 University of the West Indies 8 Environmental Management Authority Maritime Services Poster Graphic Design by Betsy Boynton