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. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]