Source: Seattle Times, Friday, 1 Sep 2000 [edited]
High toxin levels foul Puget Sound's shellfish
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The warm, sunny weather that graced Puget Sound this summer has produced a
bumper crop of poisonous shellfish across the region. Because of red tides,
levels of toxins in area shellfish are among the highest ever, said Frank
Cox, marine biotoxin coordinator for the Washington Department of Health.
Since the beginning of Aug 2000, poisoned shellfish have prompted the
department and local health authorities to ban recreational clam, oyster
and mussel harvests in all of King, Skagit and San Juan counties, most of
Pierce County and parts of seven other counties. On Wednesday [30 Aug
2000], officials closed to shellfish gatherers Snohomish County beaches
from Picnic Point to the King County line and all of Lummi Island in
Whatcom County. "It's not unusual to have closures at this time of year,"
Cox said. "What is unusual is the high toxin levels we're seeing." 6 of the
state's 350 shellfish growers have had growing areas closed, with one area
since reopened. 9 people have experienced symptoms of paralytic-shellfish
poisoning - 5 of them hospitalized - over the past week after eating
contaminated mussels from Carr Inlet, the body of water that separates the
Gig Harbor and Longbranch peninsulas. All are expected to recover fully,
said Bert Bartleson, technical expert for the health department's food program.
At work is an algae, Alexandrium catanella, which produces a potent,
fast-acting nerve poison with no known antidote. The poison accumulates in
filter feeders such as mussels and clams, which then pass it on to people
whose symptoms can include numbness, paralysis and disorientation. Samples
taken around the area have found repeated toxin levels above the federal
limit of 80 micrograms per 100 grams of shellfish tissue. Tests found
shellfish from the head of Carr Inlet contained 25 times the federal level,
which is set by the Food and Drug Administration. Mussels from the inlet's
Horsehead Bay, where seven of the nine sick people did their gathering, had
13 769 micrograms per 100 grams of tissue.