title: State of the art on cyanotoxins in water and their behaviour towards chlorine.
abstract: The occurrence of cyanobacterial blooms is drastically increasing in temperate countries and drinking water resources are threatened. As a result, cyanotoxins should be considered in water treatment to protect human health. This study presents a state of the art on cyanotoxins in water and their behaviour towards chlorination, a common drinking water disinfection process. Chlorination efficiency on cyanotoxins alteration depends on pH, chlorine dose and oxidant nature. Microcystins and cylindrospermopsin are efficiently transformed by chlorine, with respectively 6 and 2 by-products identified. In addition, chlorination of microcystins and cylindrospermopsin is associated with a loss of acute toxicity. Even though they have been less investigated, saxitoxins and nodularins are also altered by chlorine. For these toxins, no by-products have been identified, but the chlorinated mixture does not show acute toxicity. On the contrary, the fact that anatoxin-a has a very slow reaction kinetics suggests that this toxin resists chlorination.
authors.affiliation: Environment and Health Research Laboratory (LERES), French School of Public Health (EHESP), Avenue du Professeur Léon-Bernard - CS 74312, 35043 Rennes Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Sylvain
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Merel
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Clément
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Thomas
mesh_terms: D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity; D002713:Chlorine / Q000737:chemistry*; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000737:chemistry*; D004202:Disinfectants / Q000737:chemistry*; D015394:Molecular Structure
chemical_list: D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D004202:Disinfectants; D002713:Chlorine