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Algal toxins were first reported in countries experiencing long durations of daylight duringthe summer season, favoring cyanobacterial blooms, such as Scandinavia, Australia and SouthAfrica. Since then, the presence of algal toxins seems to have been spreading worldwide,possibly due to global climate change. In particular, at the beginning of the 1990s, severeblooms with health effects on several bathers were reported in the United Kingdom, with important impactin the media. Research in France on this topic started at the end of the 1990s. Then in 2001,the publication of the French decree transposing the European drinking water directiverevised in 1998, included the requirement of monitoring for Microcystin LR in case an algalbloom is observed in the drinking water resource. Subsequently, algal blooms were observedthroughout France during the 2003 and 2004 seasons, both for bathing waters and drinkingwater resources. Because cyanobacterial species capable ofproducing toxins other than microcystins were detected, AFSSA, the French agency in chargeof assessing food-related health risks, recommended the identification of sites considered tobe at risk and the monitoring of toxins other than Microcystin LR. In its report (AFSSA,2006), this agency also recommends a maximum value of 0.3g/L for cylindrospermopsinand 3 g/L for saxitoxins. The French health authorities furthermore recently decided that the1g/L guideline value for Microcystin-LR should now apply to the total microcystinconcentration.Due to the large number of toxins identified so far (about 80 microcystins and nodularinvariants, 3 anatoxin variants, 25 saxitoxin derivatives, dermatotoxins, and the emergingneurotoxin -N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA)) and their difficulty of analysis withassociated cost, implementing a cost effective but efficient detection/identification scheme,required careful strategy. This paper first describes how relevant toxins were selected formonitoring of French waters. Assessment of available analytical methods and implementationof an appropriate analytical scheme are also discussed. Includes 5 references, tables, figures.

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Edition: Vol. - No. Published: 11/01/2008 Number of Pages: 10File Size: 1 file , 920 KB