zoas and palytoxins

[Starry]

great write up on zoas/palys/protopalys and thier toxins in the latest issue of Coral magazine.

[chandigz]

Ah Palytoxin. Wonderful stuff. I know all about it. I'm always carefull, gloves and saftey glasses but I tried to kill some palys with hot water and inhaled the aerosolized palytoxin. Who would have thought. Symptoms came on quick. I was home alone and within an hour I was completely incapacitated and delusional. I lost consciousness at some point. 24 hours sicker then i've ever been. I had most of the symptoms of a fatal dose. I should have been in the hospital. I'm lucky I didn't die.

[Zoaelite]

Ah Palytoxin. Wonderful stuff. I know all about it. I'm always carefull, gloves and saftey glasses but I tried to kill some palys with hot water and inhaled the aerosolized palytoxin. Who would have thought. Symptoms came on quick. I was home alone and within an hour I was completely incapacitated and delusional. I lost consciousness at some point. 24 hours sicker then i've ever been. I had most of the symptoms of a fatal dose. I should have been in the hospital. I'm lucky I didn't die.

Wait... so you never went to the hospital? How long did it take you to "get better"?

[chandigz]

The first 24 hours was the worst I guess, from what I remember. I wasn't conscious for a good part of that time. I was so delusional that it never really crossed my mind to call for help. I don't even know if I could have made it to the phone. It happened during a tank move and I remember around the 12hr mark crawling about 12 feet on my hands and knees, having to stop and lay on the floor a few times to dump my coral and fish into the tank. It took all I had. I basically passed out on the floor after that. for the most part all the symptoms were gone after about 36 hrs. definitely wasn't up to par for a good week after. When I researched the effects of palytoxin I realized how close I came to possible death with the symptoms I had. I couldn't figure out how I got poisoned till I read a article about a FDA report of 2 people hospitalized and just about dieing doing the same thing.

[daniella3d]

And what report would that be? Any link?

And what's the link to the coral magazine?

[fencer]

Chandigz...glad to see you are still alive. There is enough comments on this board to suggest palytoxin poisoning is very real and has life threatening consequences. An adult my survive the effects but when a child gets this not sure if the outcome will be so favourable. This is my concern

[Zoaelite]

I'm pretty sure he is referring to this report (http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0018235), or this report (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004101010900292X).

Although I personally feel a great deal of people out there blame palytoxin indiscriminately for illness or other marine related sickness it should be noted that this is one of the most toxic compounds on the planet.

If you ever suspect you have actual symptoms (all of which can be found in the above reports) you should seek medical assistance immediately. Although there is no anti-toxin at this point you will be put on steroids, medical monitoring is key. The compound has a moderate half life taking up to 48 hours to achieve 50% clearance, in the mean time it will wreck havoc on your body.

Just for comparison:
LD50 of Caffeine: 192 mg/kg
LD50 of Codeine: 600 mg/kg
LD50 of Nicotine: 53 mg/kg
LD50 of Aspirin: 1240mg/kg
LD50 of Table salt: 3320mg/kg
LD50 of Tetrodotoxin (Marine species, such as the BR octopus): 0.008 mg/kg
LD50 of the Most venomous snake (Hydrophis Belcheri): 0.025 mg/kg

LD50 of Palytoxin:0.0003 mg/kg

[Starry]

Coral Magazine:
http://www.coralmagazine.com/

Latest issue:
http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/reef_to_rainforest.aspx?eid=af62debd-074f-4280-9d4c-9e5f180f1a32

[reefgirl189]

Chandigz, I remember reading your post about your encounter. I'm glad you posted it because although I never thought to get rid of unwanted palys by killing them with hot water I certainly know better now should the idea ever cross my mind.

I know it sounds kind of cliche but I'm extra careful when handling zoas and plays (especially when fragging) because I have children. Safety goggles, gloves, and keeping the kids at a very safe distance, etc. are really the least I can do to make sure that everyone here stays safe. I imagine the toxin would be very hard on someone so little and you know how kids are, always wanting to touch everything. Everything aquarium related stays up out of reach in this house.