Cyanobacteria, microcystins and cylindrospermopsin in public drinking supply reservoirs of Brazil

Abstract

Brazil has a history of blooms and contamination of freshwater systems by cyanobacterial toxins. The monitoring relevance of toxins from cyanobacteria in reservoirs for public supply is notorious given its high toxicity to mammals, included humans beings. The most recurrent toxins in Brazilian water bodies are microcystins (MC). However, the recent record of cylindrospermopsin (CyN) in northeastern Brazil, Pernambuco state, alerts us to the possibility that this could be escalating. This study reports occurren…