In 2002, the Polish Ministry of Health added the assessment of cyanobacteria to requirements for monitoring bathing water quality, and accordingly the appearance of cyanobacterial blooms should be controlled by observation of water colour, turbidity and/or odour. However, this law has been repealed by the Act from March 4th 2010 (Water Law 2010) and the final consolidated version the Act was announced February 9th 2012 (Water Law 2012). The new article in the Water Law regulation states that the schedule of sampling, collection and analysis should be no
exceed a month. Additionally, if determined by internal or official examination that the bathing water does not meet the requirements, in particular because of short-term pollution or excessive cyanobacterial blooms, the state district sanitary inspector requires the organizer to determine the cause of pollution and take action to protect human health and improve water quality. This change in bathing water regulation is consistent with the provisions of European Directive 2006/7/EC concerning the management of bathing water quality.
It seems that more precise and structured recreational water regulations would be desirable, including the determination of cyanobacterial biomass and toxicity together with recommendations for methods. Only full knowledge of the problem will enable the development of methods to prevent and reduce the occurrence of toxic blooms of cyanobacteria.
For drinking water, the Guideline value of 1 µg/L of Microcystin-LR has been excluded from Polish legislation by the Ministry of Health in 2007. The new regulation without a guideline value of microcystin was based on European Directive 98/83/EC which does not state such a re- quirement. However, some water treatment plants that have a surface water intake monitor the probability of microcystin occurrence on their own initiative. They then use of the provisional guideline by WHO for microcystin-LR of 1 µg/L.
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