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4.3.       Algae in water: eutrophication as a health risk

The rapid increase in industrial and agricultural production as well as household consumption in Europe during the 20th century has resulted in greater volumes of nutrient-rich wastewater reaching aquatic ecosystems. The nutrient over-enrichment (mostly from inputs of nitrogen and phosphorus) of seas, lakes, rivers and streams from land-based sources, marine activities and atmospheric deposition can result in a series of negative ecological effects known as eutrophication (EEA, 2019b). As a consequence, aquatic ecosystems are impacted because a considerable amount of oxygen is being consumed by algae while growing and then decomposing (Nemery, 2019). This can lead to water bodies with low levels of dissolved oxygen – known as hypoxia – where many freshwater organisms struggle to survive.