title: [Microcystin in plants that treat water for human consumption in a tropical environment: the Metropolitan Area of Costa Rica].
abstract: We measured microcystin levels in water of the Metropolitan Area of Costa Rica by competitive inhibition ELISA and we quantified total coliforms, fecal coliforms, Escherichia coli (by a Most Probable Number method) and aerobic count. We wanted to identify any cyanotoxin correlation with these parameters, as a public health risk. We sampled in the rainy season of 2003 (April-October) and in the dry season of 2004 (February-March) (30 samples/season). We sampled pre-treated, semi-treated and treated water. Microcystin levels < 0.5 ppb were found in the rainy season (and > 0.5 ppb in the dry season). Dry season levels exceeded World Health Organization limits (1.0 ppb). Cyanotoxins occurred in the Tres Rios plant. We did not find a correlation between these microbiologic parameters of water quality and microcystin levels in water.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Enfermedades Tropicales, Departamento de Parasitologia, Facultad de Microbiología, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica. aeavenda@cariari.ucr.ac.cr
authors.forename: Adrián Avendaño
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Lopez
authors.forename: Carolina Arguedas
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Villa
mesh_terms: D003364:Costa Rica; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004755:Enterobacteriaceae / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005618:Fresh Water / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D052998:Microcystins / Q000032:analysis*; D012621:Seasons; D014505:Urban Population; D014871:Water Microbiology; D018508:Water Purification; D014881:Water Supply / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D052998:Microcystins; C078588:microcystin