Method Development and Validation for Simultaneous Quantification of Microcystin Congeners in Water
Abstract Background: Microcystins, as secondary metabolites of cyanobacteria, are hepatotoxic to humans through the ingestion of cyanobacteria-contaminated water. Microcystins with diverse congeners in water can be precisely quantified using online solid phase extraction-ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (online-SPE UPLC-MS/MS). A method was developed and validated to simultaneously quantify eight microcystin congeners in water using online-SPE UPLC-MS/MS.Results: The method achieved the highest efficiency and sensitivity by selecting acetonitrile with 0.1% formic acid and water with 0.1% formic acid as the best mobile phase conditions. Linearity, accuracy, and precision were validated on matrix-mixed water with the leucine enkephalin internal standard. The limit of detection calculated using the signal-to-noise ratio of 3 passed the surface water daily inspection for microcystins. Except for the lower recovery of individual substances at individual concentrations, the recoveries of the remaining microcystin congeners ranged from 70 to 130%, and the relative standard deviation was less than 10%.Conclusion: The method was used to analyze microcystins in 12 water samples collected from Chaohu Lake. The sum of all microcystin congeners ranged from 101 to 585 ng L-1 in water (<WHO drinking water safe limit of 1 μg L-1 for microcystin-LR).