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. 2015 Jun 12;7(6):2198-220.
doi: 10.3390/toxins7062198.

Cyanobacteria and Cyanotoxins Occurrence and Removal from Five High-Risk Conventional Treatment Drinking Water Plants

David C Szlag  1 , James L Sinclair  2 , Benjamin Southwell  3 , Judy A Westrick  4
Affiliations

Cyanobacteria and Cyanotoxins Occurrence and Removal from Five High-Risk Conventional Treatment Drinking Water Plants

David C Szlag et al. Toxins (Basel). .

Abstract

An environmental protection agency EPA expert workshop prioritized three cyanotoxins, microcystins, anatoxin-a, and cylindrospermopsin (MAC), as being important in freshwaters of the United States. This study evaluated the prevalence of potentially toxin producing cyanobacteria cell numbers relative to the presence and quantity of the MAC toxins in the context of this framework. Total and potential toxin producing cyanobacteria cell counts were conducted on weekly raw and finished water samples from utilities located in five US states. An Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbant Assay (ELISA) was used to screen the raw and finished water samples for microcystins. High-pressure liquid chromatography with a photodiode array detector (HPLC/PDA) verified microcystin concentrations and quantified anatoxin-a and cylindrospermopsin concentrations. Four of the five utilities experienced cyanobacterial blooms in their raw water. Raw water samples from three utilities showed detectable levels of microcystins and a fourth utility had detectable levels of both microcystin and cylindrospermopsin. No utilities had detectable concentrations of anatoxin-a. These conventional plants effectively removed the cyanobacterial cells and all finished water samples showed MAC levels below the detection limit by ELISA and HPLC/PDA.

Keywords: anatoxin-a; conventional drinking water treatment; cyanobacteria; cylindrospermopsin; microcystin.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
California algal density and ELISA microcystin concentration in raw water.
Figure 2
Figure 2
California site cyanobacteria potential producers of individual toxins.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Texas algal density and ELISA microcystin concentration in raw water.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Texas toxin-producing cyanobacteria.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Florida River algal density and ELISA microcystin concentration in raw water.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Florida River toxin-producers.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Florida Reservoir Cyanobacteria and Microcystin.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Florida Reservoir individual toxin producers.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Oklahoma Total and toxic cyanobacteria and ELISA microcystin.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Individual toxin-producers at the Oklahoma site.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Vermont total cyanobacteria and total toxin-producers. Microcystin was not detected in any sample.
Figure 12
Figure 12
Individual toxin-producers at the Vermont site.
Figure 13
Figure 13
Chromatograph of HPLC/PDA Run.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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