Mote Marine, with funding support from the Florida Department of Health, will begin air testing in Sarasota County for red tide toxins. Mote is working to better understand the amount of red tide toxins in the air that humans are exposed to. Air sampling equipment will be installed further inland than previous studies to determine the distance the toxins travel. Past studies show toxins can travel up to 2.6 miles inland, but anecdotal reports show that members of the public experienced respiratory irritation much further inland from the shore during the current red tide bloom.
