Analysis of anatoxin-a in freshwaters by automated on-line derivatization-liquid chromatography-electrospray mass spectrometry.

Anatoxin-a is a toxin produced from cyanobacterial blooms in freshwaters. In order to determine trace anatoxin-a in freshwaters, an automated on-line derivatization procedure with fluorenyl methylchloroformate using liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry was developed. Anatoxin-a was extracted using solid-phase extraction with adequate recovery (75.7+/-7.2%, n=6) at 20 ng/l. The limits of quantification and detection were calculated to be 15.2 ng/l and 2.1 ng/l, respectively, using selected ion monitoring.