Marine biotoxins may pose a threat to the human consumption of seafood and seafood products. The increasing global trade and higher demand for seafood products worldwide represents a challenge for food safety authorities, policy makers, food business operators, and the scientific community, in particular, researchers devoted to environmental sciences, toxicology, and analytical chemistry. In addition, due to changes in climate conditions and technological developments, new and emerging marine toxins are being detected in regions where they were previously unknown. This Special Issue highlight studies aiming to the develop detection methods for marine biotoxins for better understanding the dynamics of accumulation/elimination of marine biotoxins and their effects on marine organisms, as well as toxin exposure studies that aim to evaluate the risks associated with the consumption of contaminated seafood.
This paper provides an extensive review of different aspects of five shellfish-poisoning syndromes (paralytic, diarrhoeic, amnesic, neurologic and azapiracid), as well as one fish-poisoning syndrome (ciguatera fish poisoning), and discusses in detail the causative toxins produced by marine organisms, chemical structures and analytical methods of the toxins, habitat and occurrence of the toxin-producing organisms, case studies and existing regulations. Based on this analysis, risk assessments are carried out for each of the toxins, and recommendations are elaborated to improve the management of these risks in order to reduce the harmful effect of these toxins on public health.
This paper provides an extensive review of different aspects of five shellfish-poisoning syndromes (paralytic, diarrhoeic, amnesic, neurologic and azapiracid), as well as one fish-poisoning syndrome (ciguatera fish poisoning). It discusses in detail the causative toxins produced by marine organisms, chemical structures and analytical methods, habitat and occurrence of the toxin-producing organisms, case studies and existing regulations. Based on this analysis, risk assessments are carried out for each of the toxins, and recommendations are elaborated to improve the management of these risks in order to reduce the harmful effects of these toxins on public health. Contents Chapter 1: Introduction; Chapter 2: Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP); Chemical structures and properties, Methods of analysis, Source organism(s) and habitat, Occurrence and accumulation in seafood, Toxicity of PSP toxins, Prevention of PSP intoxication, Cases and outbreaks of PSP, Regulations and monitoring; Chapter 3: Diarrhoeic Shellfish Poisoning (DSP); Chemical structures and properties, Methods of analysis, Source organism(s) and habitat, Occurrence and accumulation in seafood, Toxicity of DSP toxins, Prevention of DSP intoxication, Cases and outbreaks of DSP, Regulations and monitoring; Chapter 4: Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning (ASP); Chemical structures and properties, Methods of analysis, Source organism(s) and habitat, Occurrence and accumulation in seafood, Toxicity of ASP toxins, Prevention of ASP toxins, Prevention of ASP intoxication, Cases and outbreaks of ASP, Regulations and monitoring; Chapter 5: Neurologic Shellfish Poisoning (NSP); Chemical structures and properties, Methods of analysis, Source organism(s) and habitat, Occurrence and accumulation in seafood, Toxicity of NSP toxins, Prevention of NSP intoxication, Cases and outbreaks of NSP, Regulations and monitoring; Chapter 6: Azaspiracid Shellfish Poisoning (AZP); Chemical structures and properties, Methods of analysis, Source organism(s) and habitat, Occurrence and accumulation in seafood, Toxicity of AZP toxins, Prevention of AZP intoxication, Cases and outbreaks of AZP, Regulations and monitoring; Chapter 7: Ciguatera Fish Poisoning (CFP); Chemical structures and properties of ciguatoxins, Methods of analysis, Source organism(s), habitat and distribution, Occurrence and accumulation in seafood, Toxicity of CFP toxins, Prevention of CFP intoxication, Cases and outbreaks of CFP, Regulations and monitoring; Chapter 8: Risk Assessment; Risk assessment for paralytic shellfish poisoning (PS), Risk assessment for diarrhoeic shellfish poisoning (DSP), Risk assessment for Amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP), Risk assessment for neurologic shellfish poisoning (NSP), Risk assessment for azaspiracid shellfish poisoning (AZP), Risk assessment for ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP); Chapter 9: Conclusions and Recommendations; Conclusions, Recommendations.
The emergence of marine and freshwater toxins in geographical areas where they have never been reported before is a concern due to the considerable impact on (sea)food contamination, and consequently, on public health. Several groups of marine biotoxins, in particular tetrodotoxins, ciguatoxins, and palytoxins, are included among the relevant marine biotoxins that have recently emerged in several coastal areas. A similar situation has been observed in freshwater, where cyanobacterial toxins, such as microcystins, could end up in unexpected areas such as the estuaries where shellfish are cultivated. Climate change and the increased availability of nutrients have been considered as the key factors in the expansion of all of these toxins into new areas; however, this could also be due to more intense biological invasions, more sensitive analytical methods, or perhaps even an increased scientific interest in these natural contaminations. The incidences of human intoxications due to the consumption of seafood contaminated with these toxins have made their study an important task to accomplish in order to protect human health. This Special Issue has a focus on a wide variety of emerging biotoxin classes and techniques to identify and quantify them.
Marine biotoxins may pose a threat to the human consumption of seafood and seafood products. The increasing global trade and higher demand for seafood products worldwide represents a challenge for food safety authorities, policy makers, food business operators, and the scientific community, in particular, researchers devoted to environmental sciences, toxicology, and analytical chemistry. In addition, due to changes in climate conditions and technological developments, new and emerging marine toxins are being detected in regions where they were previously unknown. This Special Issue highlight studies aiming to the develop detection methods for marine biotoxins for better understanding the dynamics of accumulation/elimination of marine biotoxins and their effects on marine organisms, as well as toxin exposure studies that aim to evaluate the risks associated with the consumption of contaminated seafood.
In recent years, the field of Toxinology has expanded substantially. On the one hand it studies venomous animals, plants and micro organisms in detail to understand their mode of action on targets. While on the other, it explores the biochemical composition, genomics and proteomics of toxins and venoms to understand their three interaction with life forms (especially humans), development of antidotes and exploring their pharmacological potential. Therefore, Toxinology has deep linkages with biochemistry, molecular biology, anatomy and pharmacology. In addition, there is a fast developing applied subfield, clinical toxinology, which deals with understanding and managing medical effects of toxins on human body. Given the huge impact of toxin-based deaths globally, and the potential of venom in generation of drugs for so-far incurable diseases (for example, Diabetes, Chronic Pain), the continued research and growth of the field is imminent. This has led to the growth of research in the area and the consequent scholarly output by way of publications in journals and books. Despite this ever growing body of literature within biomedical sciences, there is still no all-inclusive reference work available that collects all of the important biochemical, biomedical and clinical insights relating to Toxinology. The Handbook of Toxinology aims to address this gap and cover the field of Toxinology comprehensively.
Some taxonomic and biologic aspects of toxic dinoflagellates / Karen A. Steidinger -- Methods of analysis for algal toxins: dinoflagellate and diatom toxins / John J. Sullivan -- Mode of action of toxins of seafood poisoning / Daniel G. Baden, Vera L. Trainer -- Paralytic shellfish poisoning / C.Y. Kao -- Diarrhetic shellfish poisoning / Tore Aune, Magne Yndestad -- Ciguatera fish poisoning / Raymond Bagnis -- Control measures in shellfish and finfish industries in the USA / James Hungerford, Marleen Wekell -- Seafood toxins of algal origin and their control in Canada / A.D. Cembella, E. Todd -- Taxonomy of toxic cyanophyceae (Cyanobacteria) / Olav M. Skulberg [and others] -- Measurement of toxins from blue-green algae in water and foodstuffs / Ian R. Falconer -- Mechanism of toxicity of cyclic peptide toxins from blue-green algae / Ian R. Falconer -- Diseases related to freshwater blue-green algal toxins and control measures / Wayne W. Carmichael, Ian R. Falconer.
Can Americans continue to add more seafood to their diets without fear of illness or even death? Seafood-caused health problems are not widespread, but consumers are at risk from seafood-borne microbes and toxinsâ€"with consequences that can range from mild enteritis to fatal illness. At a time when legislators and consumer groups are seeking a sound regulatory approach, Seafood Safety presents a comprehensive set of practical recommendations for ensuring the safety of the seafood supply. This volume presents the first-ever overview of the field, covering seafood consumption patterns, where and how seafood contamination occurs, and the effectiveness of regulation. A wealth of technical information is presented on the sources of contaminationâ€"microbes, natural toxins, and chemical pollutantsâ€"and their effects on human health. The volume evaluates methods used for risk assessment and inspection sampling.
This volume describes some of the new research published since volume 1 of the series, Plant and fungal toxins , was published in 1983. A few chapters update topics previously treated, but most describe in depth the toxicologic and chemical aspects of other topics. Thus volumes 1 and 6 together prov
