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With the objective in mind of developing a standardized analytical method for the detection andquantitation of cyanobacterial toxins, there are two key factors to consider: the toxinscomprise a large class of compounds; and, there are very few analytical standardsavailable for evaluation. With these considerations in mind, the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of GroundWater and Drinking Water (OGWDW) Technical Support Center in Cincinnati, Ohiohosted an Algal Toxin Workshop in the Spring of 2001. Experts in the field ofcyanobacterial research attended and provided advice on the toxins that should be thefocus of method development efforts. EPA subsequently chose to concentrate efforts onfour microcystin congeners (-LR, -LA, -YR, and -RR), cylindrospermopsin, andanatoxin-a was reached. Only four of the six cyanotoxins (microcystins -LR, -YR, and -RR, and anatoxin-a) are available commercially. EPA obtained the remainingcyanotoxins under contract from two groups: Microcystin-LA was purified from anAustralian bloom by Dr. Glen Shaw's group in Australia, and cylindrospermopsin waspurified from cultures prepared in the laboratory of Dr. Wayne Carmichael at WrightState University in Ohio. Two additional microcystins, -LW and -LF, that were not onthe original method development priority list were added because standards of acceptablepurity became commercially available. Initial method development work was directed towards producing a single standardizedmethod for all of the cyanotoxins. However, stability data reported in the literaturecombined with preliminary experimental separations and an examination of the structuresof the cyanotoxins indicated that separate analytical methods would be required. These methods are discussed in the paper. Includes 15 references, figures.

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Edition: Vol. - No. Published: 11/02/2003 Number of Pages: 5 File Size: 1 file , 250 KB