Some of these are carcinogenic. Others are acutely lethal. 7 Neurotoxins produced by A. flos-aquae include neosaxitoxin and anatoxin. 8 Anatoxin is a chemical cousin to cocaine. Anatoxins may be the reason why people eating blue-green algae sometimes feel energized.
Some people also describe being addicted to blue-green algae.
Animals are known to develop a fatal attraction to mats of blue-green algae washed up on shorelines. 9 Anatoxins are neurotoxins and eventually destroy brain cells. According to a company posting, tests for toxins are run every other day. Luckily, it seems these toxins rarely arise in Klamath Lake. Spirulina, a blue-green algae marketed by other companies, never produces anatoxin nor microcystin.