Natural toxins - analysis

Mussels on a cliff by the sea

The Swedish Food Agency analyses various toxins – for example, biotoxins in mussels, cyanotoxins in water, glycoalkaloids in potatoes and mycotoxins and bacterial toxins in many different types of food.

Toxins are poisonous substances produced by natural processes within living cells or organisms, such as plants, microorganisms and animals. There are an enormous number of toxins, some of which are among the most poisonous known chemical substances.

Accredited methods

The accredited methods used by the Swedish Food Agency to analyse natural toxins are listed below. Apart from these accredited methods we offer non-accredited analysis of some other toxins e.g. the mushroom toxin orellanine, the bacterial toxins cereulide from Bacillus cereus, SEA and SEB from Staphylococcus aureus, the alkaloid lupanine and the amino acid beta-methyl-amino-alanine (BMAA) and tetrodotoxin (TTX) in mussels and oysters.

Please contact us if you would like further information and/or prices for the analyses we offer.

Joakim Engman
Head of Unit Natural Toxins and Metals
Email: firstname.sirname@slv.se

Substances Analytical technique
Marine biotoxins (DSP-Lipophilic toxin group) in mussels and oysters LC-MS/MS
Marine biotoxins (ASP-Domorine acid) in mussels and oysters LC-MS
Marine biotoxins (PSP-hydrophilic toxin group) in mussels and oysters HPLC-FLD
Aquatic biotoxins (anatoxin A, cylindrospermopsin,micro cystins) in raw water and drinking water LC-MS/MS
Glykoalkaloids (solanine, chaconine) in potatoes LC-MS/MS
Mycotoxins (deoxynivalenole, zearalenone, ochratoxin A, T2-toxin, HT2-toxin) in cerael and cerael products incl rice LC-MS/MS
Mycotoxins (aflatoxin B1B2G1G2 och ochratoxin A) in nuts and seeds LC-MS/MS
Mycotoxins (aflatoxin B1B2G1G2 och ochratoxin A) i raisins and other dried fruits HPLC/FLD
Mycotoxins (ochratoxin A) in coffee HPLC/FLD
Mycotoxins (aflatoxin M1) in milk HPLC/FLD
Mycotoxins (patuline) in juice and mash HPLC/UV
Histamin in fish and fish products LC MS/MS

Laboratory services

Reviewed 2023-09-15