Rationale for the Anatoxin-a Maximum Permissible Concentration in water of reservoirs for both domestic-drinking and cultural-household water use

Introduction. The danger of water pollution by cyanobacterial toxins (cyanotoxins) is associated not only with anthropogenic contamination of water bodies by biogenic substances (nitrogen, phosphorus) but also with climate change on the planet. The presence of cyanotoxins has been documented in water bodies in Europe, North America, and other countries around the world. In the Russian Federation, cyanotoxins have been found in a number of water bodies, including sources of drinking and domestic water supply.

Materials and methods. A certified reference standard of anatoxin-a in a 1% solution of acetic acid (Standard, Certified), manufactured in the USA, CAS 64285-06-09, was used as the material in the experimental studies. Based on data from elibrary.ru, PubMed, Web of Science, Jstor, Open Access Button, the Russian State Library (RSL), and MedLine, a review of scientific research on the problem of cyanotoxins was conducted. In a chronic experiment, the general toxic effect of anatoxin-a on the organism in white rats under conditions of oral administration was studied. Morphofunctional changes in the internal organs of the animals were examined, as was the embryotoxic effect on the organism in pregnant rats and the teratogenic effect on the offspring. The processing of primary data was carried out using Microsoft Office Excel 2013. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS Statistics v. 22.0 at α = 0.05. The normality of the data distribution was tested using the Shapiro-Wilk test, and the equality of variances was tested using Levene’s test. The presence of a trend in the studies was tested using the Spearman rank correlation method.

Results. A threshold dose of anatoxin-a exposure to the organism in animals under chronic experimental conditions was established. A no-effect dose for embryotoxic and teratogenic effects on the organism of experimental animals and their offspring was determined.

Limitation. The research is limited by the 3-month duration of the chronic experiment.

Conclusion. The anatoxin-a maximum permissible concentration (MPC) in water for domestic drinking and recreational use is recommended at a level of 4.0 µg/L, with a sanitary-toxicological hazard indicator classified as hazard class II. To monitor the content in water, MUK 4.1.4055–24 “Quantitative determination of anatoxin-a in drinking and natural water by enzyme immunoassay” (lower limit of measurement – ​​0.05 µg/L has been developed and approved.

Compliance with ethical standards. A positive opinion was obtained from the Biomedical Ethics Committee of the F.F. Erisman Federal Scientific Center of Hygiene f the Federal Service for Supervision in Protection of the Rights of Consumer and Man Wellbeing (Protocol No. 03/22 dated November 21, 2022).

Contribution:
Sinitsyna O.O. – conceptualization and design of the study, editing;
Pushkareva M.V., Masaltsev G.V. – writing of the manuscript, editing;
Turbinsky V.V. – conceptualization and design of the study, writing of the manuscript, editing;
Kuz N.V. – conceptualization and design of the study, collection and processing of material, writing of the manuscript.
All authors are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of the manuscript final version.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Funding. This research was carried out as part of the implementation of the state program “Ensuring Chemical and Biological Safety of the Russian Federation” for 2021–2027.

Received: February 4, 2025 / Accepted: March 26, 2025 / Published: July 31, 2025

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