High-performance liquid chromatographic methods for determination of marine biotoxins

Paralysing and diarrhetic shellfish poisonings (PSP and DSP) are important intoxications caused by the consumption of shellfish, mainly bivalve molluscs, contaminated by certain species of toxic dinoflagellates present in the marine phytoplankton. Their appearance and massive reproduction take place in some periods of the year, causing the phenomenon commonly known as 'red tide'. This causes significant problems to health and to the economy of the Galician region. The AOAC mouse bioassay is the most commonly used method of analysis for these toxic compounds, being the official method in most countries. Owing to the lack of sensitivity and selectivity of the biological assay, HPLC methods were developed as an alternative methodology. In this paper work carried out on the improvement of the chromatographic conditions in order to achieve accurate information about the PSP and DSP compounds present in the studied samples is reported.