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Survey of Tetrodotoxin in New Zealand Bivalve Molluscan Shellfish over a 16-Month Period

Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a heat-stable neurotoxin typically associated with pufferfish intoxications. It has also been detected in shellfish from Japan, the United Kingdom, Greece, China, Italy, the Netherlands and New Zealand. A recent European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) scientific opinion concluded...

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Autores principales: Boundy, Michael J., Biessy, Laura, Roughan, Brian, Nicolas, Jeane, Harwood, D. Tim
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7472152/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32784980
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxins12080512
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author Boundy, Michael J.
Biessy, Laura
Roughan, Brian
Nicolas, Jeane
Harwood, D. Tim
author_facet Boundy, Michael J.
Biessy, Laura
Roughan, Brian
Nicolas, Jeane
Harwood, D. Tim
author_sort Boundy, Michael J.
collection PubMed
description Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a heat-stable neurotoxin typically associated with pufferfish intoxications. It has also been detected in shellfish from Japan, the United Kingdom, Greece, China, Italy, the Netherlands and New Zealand. A recent European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) scientific opinion concluded that a level of <0.044 mg TTX/kg in marine bivalves and gastropods, based on a 400 g portion size, does not result in adverse effects in humans. There have been no reports of human illness attributed to the consumption of New Zealand shellfish containing TTX. To obtain a greater understanding of its presence, a survey of non-commercial New Zealand shellfish was performed between December 2016 and March 2018. During this period, 766 samples were analysed from 8 different species. TTX levels were found to be low and similar to those observed in shellfish from other countries, except for pipi (Paphies australis), a clam species endemic to New Zealand. All pipi analysed as part of the survey were found to contain detectable levels of TTX, and pipi from a sampling site in Hokianga Harbour contained consistently elevated levels. In contrast, no TTX was observed in cockles from this same sampling site. No recreationally harvested shellfish species, including mussels, oysters, clams and tuatua, contained TTX levels above the recommended EFSA safe guidance level. The levels observed in shellfish were considerably lower than those reported in other marine organisms known to contain TTX and cause human intoxication (e.g., pufferfish). Despite significant effort, the source of TTX in shellfish, and indeed all animals, remains unresolved making it a difficult issue to understand and manage.
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spelling pubmed-74721522020-09-04 Survey of Tetrodotoxin in New Zealand Bivalve Molluscan Shellfish over a 16-Month Period Boundy, Michael J. Biessy, Laura Roughan, Brian Nicolas, Jeane Harwood, D. Tim Toxins (Basel) Article Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a heat-stable neurotoxin typically associated with pufferfish intoxications. It has also been detected in shellfish from Japan, the United Kingdom, Greece, China, Italy, the Netherlands and New Zealand. A recent European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) scientific opinion concluded that a level of <0.044 mg TTX/kg in marine bivalves and gastropods, based on a 400 g portion size, does not result in adverse effects in humans. There have been no reports of human illness attributed to the consumption of New Zealand shellfish containing TTX. To obtain a greater understanding of its presence, a survey of non-commercial New Zealand shellfish was performed between December 2016 and March 2018. During this period, 766 samples were analysed from 8 different species. TTX levels were found to be low and similar to those observed in shellfish from other countries, except for pipi (Paphies australis), a clam species endemic to New Zealand. All pipi analysed as part of the survey were found to contain detectable levels of TTX, and pipi from a sampling site in Hokianga Harbour contained consistently elevated levels. In contrast, no TTX was observed in cockles from this same sampling site. No recreationally harvested shellfish species, including mussels, oysters, clams and tuatua, contained TTX levels above the recommended EFSA safe guidance level. The levels observed in shellfish were considerably lower than those reported in other marine organisms known to contain TTX and cause human intoxication (e.g., pufferfish). Despite significant effort, the source of TTX in shellfish, and indeed all animals, remains unresolved making it a difficult issue to understand and manage. MDPI 2020-08-10 /pmc/articles/PMC7472152/ /pubmed/32784980 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxins12080512 Text en © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Boundy, Michael J.
Biessy, Laura
Roughan, Brian
Nicolas, Jeane
Harwood, D. Tim
Survey of Tetrodotoxin in New Zealand Bivalve Molluscan Shellfish over a 16-Month Period
title Survey of Tetrodotoxin in New Zealand Bivalve Molluscan Shellfish over a 16-Month Period
title_full Survey of Tetrodotoxin in New Zealand Bivalve Molluscan Shellfish over a 16-Month Period
title_fullStr Survey of Tetrodotoxin in New Zealand Bivalve Molluscan Shellfish over a 16-Month Period
title_full_unstemmed Survey of Tetrodotoxin in New Zealand Bivalve Molluscan Shellfish over a 16-Month Period
title_short Survey of Tetrodotoxin in New Zealand Bivalve Molluscan Shellfish over a 16-Month Period
title_sort survey of tetrodotoxin in new zealand bivalve molluscan shellfish over a 16-month period
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7472152/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32784980
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxins12080512
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