Occurrence of Marine Biotoxins in Bivalve Molluscs Available in Poland in 2014-2018

Introduction

Marine biotoxins are toxic substances that may cause illness and death in marine organisms and humans. This article disseminates the results of a 4-year study on the occurrence of marine biotoxins in raw bivalve molluscs purchased from Polish suppliers.

Material and Methods

A total of 256 samples of 8 different molluscs species were analysed for the presence of biotoxins using the ELISA method for paralytic shellfish poison, diarrhoetic shellfish poison, and amnaesic shellfish poison.

Results

The permitted limits of marine biotoxin content were not exceeded in any of the analysed samples and the majority of them were free from these compounds.

Conclusion

The results of the study indicate that the tested raw bivalve molluscs available in Poland were safe for consumers.

Application of activated carbon to accelerate detoxification of paralytic shellfish toxins from mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis and scallops Chlamys farreri

Contamination of economic bivalves with paralytic shellfish toxins (PST) occurs frequently in many parts of the world, which potentially threatens consumer health and the marine aquaculture economy. It is the objective of this study to develop a suitable technology for accelerating detoxification of PST from shellfish using activated carbon (AC). The adsorption efficiency of PST by eight different AC materials and by different particle sizes of wood-based AC (WAC) were tested and compared. Then WAC particles (37-48µm) were fed to mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis and scallops Chlamys farreri previously contaminated with PST through feeding with dinoflagellate Alexandrium tamarense ATHK. Results showed that the maximum adsorption ratio (65%) of PST was obtained by WAC. No significant differences in adsorption ratios were found between different particle sizes of WAC. The toxicity of mussels decreased by 41% and 68% after detoxification with WAC for 1 d and 3 d, respectively. Meanwhile, the detoxification ratio of mussels was approximately 3 times higher than that of scallops. This study suggests that the WAC could be used to accelerate the detoxification of PST by shellfish.