Abstract
Saxitoxin (STX) and its analogues produced by toxic dinoflagellates accumulate in bivalves, and routine monitoring of bivalves is important to prevent cases of human poisoning. In this study, we describe a rapid detection method for the analysis of STXs using ultra-performance liquid chromatography with post-column fluorescent detection and to investigate water depths and sampling points optimal for shellfish toxin monitoring. Cultured scallops (Mizuhopecten yessoensis) and mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) collected from various water depths and sampling points were used in this study. Irrespective of bivalve species, toxin concentrations in bivalves were lower at deeper water depths. The toxin concentrations of bivalves did not differ greatly when bivalves were collected from the same bay. Although the levels of contamination of bivalves with STXs can depend on various environmental and geographical factors, our findings are useful for formulating a sampling protocol for the prevention of harvesting contaminated shellfish.
Highlights
Saxitoxins (STXs) produced by certain toxic dinoflagellates such as Alexandrium tamarense [1] are accumulated through the food chain in organisms such as bivalve mollusks [2] or crabs [3,4,5,6,7]
A new method for STX analysis involving the use of tandem mass spectrometry with liquid chromatography (LC/MS/MS) has been reported as a rapid and selective detection method of STXs [14]
We investigated the use of several analytical columns for the UPLC/OX/FD analysis
Summary
Saxitoxins (STXs) produced by certain toxic dinoflagellates such as Alexandrium tamarense [1] are accumulated through the food chain in organisms such as bivalve mollusks [2] or crabs [3,4,5,6,7]. Detection methods for STXs using conventional HPLC systems have been used for more than 20 years for research and as monitoring tools. These methods are classified into two groups: One is a pre-column oxidation method and the other is a post-column oxidation method. The complicated peak identification protocols to obtain each STX analogue concentrations in samples significantly limits the number of STX-positive samples that can be practically quantified by this method. A drawback of the latter method is that multiple injections under different chromatographic conditions are typically required to cover the various STX analogues and more rapid method in terms of chromatographic separations of STXs are required to analyze large numbers of samples
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