Separation of microcystins and nodularins by ultra performance liquid chromatography

Determination of Cyanotoxins and Prymnesins in Water, Fish Tissue, and Other Matrices: A Review

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) and their toxins are a significant and continuing threat to aquatic life in freshwater, estuarine, and coastal water ecosystems. Scientific understanding of the impacts of HABs on aquatic ecosystems has been hampered, in part, by limitations in the methodologies to measure cyanotoxins in complex matrices. This literature review discusses the methodologies currently used to measure the most commonly found freshwater cyanotoxins and prymnesins in various matrices and to assess their advantages and limitations. Identifying and quantifying cyanotoxins in surface waters, fish tissue, organs, and other matrices are crucial for risk assessment and for ensuring quality of food and water for consumption and recreational uses. This paper also summarizes currently available tissue extraction, preparation, and detection methods mentioned in previous studies that have quantified toxins in complex matrices. The structural diversity and complexity of many cyanobacterial and algal metabolites further impede accurate quantitation and structural confirmation for various cyanotoxins. Liquid chromatography–triple quadrupole mass spectrometer (LC–MS/MS) to enhance the sensitivity and selectivity of toxin analysis has become an essential tool for cyanotoxin detection and can potentially be used for the concurrent analysis of multiple toxins.

Removal of cyanotoxins by potassium permanganate: Incorporating competition from natural water constituents

In recent years, harmful algal blooms capable of producing toxins including microcystins, cylindrospermopsin, and saxitoxin have increased in occurrence and severity. These toxins can enter drinking water treatment plants and, if not effectively removed, pose a serious threat to human health. The work here investigated the efficacy of permanganate oxidation as a treatment strategy, with a focus on incorporating competition by cyanobacterial cells and dissolved organic matter (DOM). We report rate constants of 272 ± 23 M^-1 s^-1 for the reaction between permanganate and microcystin-LR, 0.26 ± 0.05 M^-1 s^-1 for the reaction between permanganate and cylindrospermopsin, and, using chemical analogs, estimate a maximum rate constant of 2.7 ± 0.2 M^-1 s^-1 for the reaction between permanganate and saxitoxin. We conclude that permanganate only shows potential to remove microcystins. No pH (6-10) or alkalinity (0-50 mM) dependence was observed for the rate of reaction between microcystin-LR and permanganate; however, a temperature dependence was observed and can be characterized by an activation energy of 16 ± 5 kJ mol^-1. The competition posed by cyanobacterial cells was quantified by an apparent second order rate constant of 2.5 ± 0.3 × 10^-6 L μg chl-a^-1 s^-1. From this apparent second order rate constant, it was concluded that cyanobacterial cells are not efficient scavengers of permanganate within typical contact times but this second order rate constant can be used to accurately predict microcystin degradation in algal-impacted waters. The competition posed by DOM depended on both the amount of DOM present (as measured by TOC) and its electron donating capacity (as predicted by SUVA-254 or E2/E3 ratio). DOM was concluded to scavenge permanganate efficiently and we forward that this should be considered in permanganate dosing calculations.

Toxic cyanobacteria and drinking water: Impacts, detection, and treatment

Blooms of toxic cyanobacteria in water supply systems are a global issue affecting water supplies on every major continent except Antarctica. The occurrence of toxic cyanobacteria in freshwater is increasing in both frequency and distribution. The protection of water supplies has therefore become increasingly more challenging. To reduce the risk from toxic cyanobacterial blooms in drinking water, a multi-barrier approach is needed, consisting of prevention, source control, treatment optimization, and monitoring. In this paper, current research on some of the critical elements of this multi-barrier approach are reviewed and synthesized, with an emphasis on the effectiveness of water treatment technologies for removing cyanobacteria and related toxic compounds. This paper synthesizes and updates a number of previous review articles on various aspects of this multi-barrier approach in order to provide a holistic resource for researchers, water managers and engineers, as well as water treatment plant operators.

State of knowledge and concerns on cyanobacterial blooms and cyanotoxins

Cyanobacteria are ubiquitous microorganisms considered as important contributors to the formation of Earth's atmosphere and nitrogen fixation. However, they are also frequently associated with toxic blooms. Indeed, the wide range of hepatotoxins, neurotoxins and dermatotoxins synthesized by these bacteria is a growing environmental and public health concern. This paper provides a state of the art on the occurrence and management of harmful cyanobacterial blooms in surface and drinking water, including economic impacts and research needs. Cyanobacterial blooms usually occur according to a combination of environmental factors e.g., nutrient concentration, water temperature, light intensity, salinity, water movement, stagnation and residence time, as well as several other variables. These environmental variables, in turn, have promoted the evolution and biosynthesis of strain-specific, gene-controlled metabolites (cyanotoxins) that are often harmful to aquatic and terrestrial life, including humans. Cyanotoxins are primarily produced intracellularly during the exponential growth phase. Release of toxins into water can occur during cell death or senescence but can also be due to evolutionary-derived or environmentally-mediated circumstances such as allelopathy or relatively sudden nutrient limitation. Consequently, when cyanobacterial blooms occur in drinking water resources, treatment has to remove both cyanobacteria (avoiding cell lysis and subsequent toxin release) and aqueous cyanotoxins previously released. Cells are usually removed with limited lysis by physical processes such as clarification or membrane filtration. However, aqueous toxins are usually removed by both physical retention, through adsorption on activated carbon or reverse osmosis, and chemical oxidation, through ozonation or chlorination. While the efficient oxidation of the more common cyanotoxins (microcystin, cylindrospermopsin, anatoxin and saxitoxin) has been extensively reported, the chemical and toxicological characterization of their by-products requires further investigation. In addition, future research should also investigate the removal of poorly considered cyanotoxins (β-methylamino-alanine, lyngbyatoxin or aplysiatoxin) as well as the economic impact of blooms.

Mechanism and application of solid phase adsorption toxin tracking for monitoring microcystins

The production of toxic microcystins by cyanobacteria is an important safety issue in terms of ecological food chains and drinking water supplies. Studies were carried out to demonstrate the applicability of solid phase adsorption toxin tracking (SPATT) to the monitoring of microcystins in fresh water. Work focused on the distribution of the intra- and extra-cellular toxins MC-LR and [Dha(7)] MC-LR produced by Microcystis aeruginosa (FACHB 905). The dynamic adsorption and desorption behavior of both toxins on aromatic resins HP20 and SP700 was examined, and the use of SPATT bags for monitoring microcystins in cyanobacterial cultures is discussed. It was shown that intracellular MC-LR and [Dha(7)] MC-LR are released continuously during batch incubation. The adsorption capacity of the SP700 resin was higher than that of the HP20 resin, while the opposite was true for desorption efficiency. The highest desorption efficiency of HP20 was 91.5±4.6% and 89.0±7.1% for MC-LR and [Dha(7)] MC-LR, respectively; accordingly, that of SP700 was 78.1±4.1% and 72.3±2.1%, respectively. Taking both adsorption and desorption behavior into consideration, HP20 is recommended as an adsorbent for SPATT monitoring of microcystins in freshwater bodies.