TY - JOUR
T1 - Marine Toxins: Chemistry, Toxcity, Occurrence and Detection, with Special Reference to the Dutch Situation
AU - Gerssen, A.
AU - Hofstad, I.E.
AU - Poelman, M.
AU - Mulder, P.P.J.
AU - van den Top, H.J.
AU - de Boer, J.
PY - 2010
Y1 - 2010
N2 - Various species of algae can produce marine toxins under certain circumstances.
These toxins can then accumulate in shellfish such as mussels, oysters and scallops. When
these contaminated shellfish species are consumed severe intoxication can occur. The
different types of syndromes that can occur after consumption of contaminated shellfish,
the corresponding toxins and relevant legislation are discussed in this review. Amnesic
Shellfish Poisoning (ASP), Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP), Diarrheic Shellfish
Poisoning (DSP) and Azaspiracid Shellfish Poisoning (AZP) occur worldwide, Neurologic
Shellfish Poisoning (NSP) is mainly limited to the USA and New Zealand while the toxins
causing DSP and AZP occur most frequently in Europe. The latter two toxin groups are fatsoluble
and can therefore also be classified as lipophilic marine toxins. A detailed
overview of the official analytical methods used in the EU (mouse or rat bioassay) and the
recently developed alternative methods for the lipophilic marine toxins is given. These
alternative methods are based on functional assays, biochemical assays and chemical
methods. From the literature it is clear that chemical methods offer the best potential to
replace the animal tests that are still legislated worldwide. Finally, an overview is given of
the situation of marine toxins in The Netherlands. The rat bioassay has been used for
monitoring DSP and AZP toxins in The Netherlands since the 1970s. Nowadays, a
combination of a chemical method and the rat bioassay is often used. In The Netherlands
toxic events are mainly caused by DSP toxins, which have been found in Dutch shellfish
for the first time in 1961, and have reoccurred at irregular intervals and in varying
concentrations. From this review it is clear that considerable effort is being undertaken by
various research groups to phase out the animal tests that are still used for the official
routine monitoring programs.
AB - Various species of algae can produce marine toxins under certain circumstances.
These toxins can then accumulate in shellfish such as mussels, oysters and scallops. When
these contaminated shellfish species are consumed severe intoxication can occur. The
different types of syndromes that can occur after consumption of contaminated shellfish,
the corresponding toxins and relevant legislation are discussed in this review. Amnesic
Shellfish Poisoning (ASP), Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP), Diarrheic Shellfish
Poisoning (DSP) and Azaspiracid Shellfish Poisoning (AZP) occur worldwide, Neurologic
Shellfish Poisoning (NSP) is mainly limited to the USA and New Zealand while the toxins
causing DSP and AZP occur most frequently in Europe. The latter two toxin groups are fatsoluble
and can therefore also be classified as lipophilic marine toxins. A detailed
overview of the official analytical methods used in the EU (mouse or rat bioassay) and the
recently developed alternative methods for the lipophilic marine toxins is given. These
alternative methods are based on functional assays, biochemical assays and chemical
methods. From the literature it is clear that chemical methods offer the best potential to
replace the animal tests that are still legislated worldwide. Finally, an overview is given of
the situation of marine toxins in The Netherlands. The rat bioassay has been used for
monitoring DSP and AZP toxins in The Netherlands since the 1970s. Nowadays, a
combination of a chemical method and the rat bioassay is often used. In The Netherlands
toxic events are mainly caused by DSP toxins, which have been found in Dutch shellfish
for the first time in 1961, and have reoccurred at irregular intervals and in varying
concentrations. From this review it is clear that considerable effort is being undertaken by
various research groups to phase out the animal tests that are still used for the official
routine monitoring programs.
KW - Alternative methods
KW - DSP toxins
KW - Lipophilic marine toxins
U2 - 10.3390/toxins2040878
DO - 10.3390/toxins2040878
M3 - Article
VL - 2
SP - 878
EP - 904
JO - Toxins
JF - Toxins
SN - 2072-6651
IS - 4
ER -
