Project Page Views: [ 782 ]
Project Metadata Element | Details |
Project Title | The Development of Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) Methods for the Determination of Microcystins in Irish Freshwaters, Cyanobacteria and Drinking Water. |
Research Area | Water |
Project Acronym | (LC-MS) |
Principal Investigator or Lead Irish Partner | Ambrose Furey |
Lead Institution or Organisation | Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) |
Lead Country | Ireland |
Latitude, Longitude (of Lead Institution) | 51.88540, -8.53455 |
Lead Funding Entity | Environmental Protection Agency |
Approximate Project Start Date | 01/10/2002 |
Approximate Project Finishing Date | 01/07/2006 |
Project Website (if any) | |
Links to other Web-based resources | |
Project Keywords | Microcystins; Freshwaters; Cyanobacteria; Drinking water |
Project Abstract | Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) methods will be developed to analyse microcystin toxins (hepatotoxins) in cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) and freshwater samples. There are only six commercially available microcystin standards out of a family of > 65 hepatotoxins. An ion trap MS (LC-MSn) method and a tandem quadrupole time-of-flight (QqTOF) mass spectrometry method will be developed to aid in the isolation of known and unknown microcystins from Irish cyanobacteria. These MS methods will aid in the structurally elucidation of isolated microcystins based on the characteristic fragmentation pattern produced from multiple MS experiments. A triple quadrupole MS method will be developed to quantify the concentration of microcystins in isolation fractions and natural samples. These LC-MS methods will be applied to identify new and unknown microcystins in Irish freshwater and to establish their geographical distribution in Irish lakes. These sensitive LC-MS methods will also be used for the rapid screening of microcystins in drinking water to determine if Irish drinking water is compliant with the WHO guideline on microcystins levels (1ppb). |