Airborne Palytoxins?

[Rick Cavanaugh]

 

[lapin]

ok ill throw in my 2 pennys of brain waves. Xenia have diterpenes. Not sure which ones. So does coffee. Coffee diterpenes, cafestol and kahweol in particular. These molecules are composed of a diterpenic nucleus, heterocyclic furan, and a glycone chain. They are known for their anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer properties. Being a news story and not a report backed up by any facts has me wondering what really happened.

 

[Julian Sprung]

Yeah, thanks for posting the link to my lecture. I was just preparing to respond here. First, the claim that Xenia was the source of the palytoxin is simply wrong. The aquarist is a novice and made an incorrect assumption because he scraped the Xenia off when moving the rocks. There are two colonies of Palythoa in his aquarium as it is now... I don't know how many were there before he moved the rocks. Here is a link to an article which has appeared on the news in the UK on this incident:
www.itv.com/news/meridian/2018-04-09/couple-poisoned-by-coral-in-their-fish-tank/

which shows the tank in detail.

Here is a screen shot from that story, in which I have outlined the two Palythoa colonies in red.

Through a contact in the organization OATA in the UK I have sent a message to the family to advise them that they still have the source of palytoxin in their aquarium. They now know.

I hope that by posting this here I can help clear up the confusion many are feeling about the report of Xenia being involved. That was a mistake in the reporting. Not a new discovery.

As Randy Holmes-Farley pointed out, using bleach to destroy palytoxin (as a way to eliminate it from rocks that are permanently removed from the aquarium) is effective.
Please review the recent article in Coral Magazine that discusses this in detail.

When Palythoa are exposed to air they exude a large amount of clear mucus. That mucus may contain a very high concentration of palytoxin. No one knows why it does sometimes but not always. The source of the poison is microbes on its surface, not the Palythoa itself. The palytoxin in the mucus can cross the skin barrier without the presence of any cuts or breaks. For that reason gloves are essential. Can the heavy molecule aerosolize? We know that steam and heat can make it do so. Pressure cleaning and brushing can too. Washing under the faucet too. Protein skimming theoretically could aerosolize some from the water, but the use of activated carbon keeps the concentration in check. After moving a large amount of Palythoa, which could produce lots of slime in the water, the skimmer or an air stone could eject some into the air. What about water change? A large colony gets exposed to the air, gives off slime, sits under hot metal halide lights for 15 minutes or so. Could that result in palytoxin getting into the air? I don't know. Most likely not, but if heat can release it, then it seems it is a potential way.

Zoanthus spp., which are relatives of Palythoa, contain much lower concentration of palytoxin or none at all. It is really the Palythoa (a.k.a Protopalythoa) that you need to be careful with.

 

[Lifts Raw]

When we transferred our 75 gallon into a 125 gallon, we experienced respiratory symptoms. There were a few zoas acquired and not sure of the exact variety. My son was concerned with some being palys & at first he attempted to clean them off a rock while wearing a mask, googles and gloves all outside. After scraping for 5 minutes he decided to through out the rock. As the night progressed, my son started sneezing and he thought I had given him my cold. My husband started sneezing within minutes of my son, and then my sneezing started. We became very congested as well with slight coughing. My daughter had escaped to her room before the switch and she did not have our symptoms. We felt tired and congested for just a couple of days. The LFS thought it was rather funny and suggested that we were allergic since we had never been exposed to this magnitude. We have one small patch of zoas on a separate rock left in the tank and we will never purchase any again (or accept any for free).

 

[Fourthwind]

Just as a warning. When my family got exposed it was not from a live paly. It came from dried rock. and I mean well dried. Over a year in my garage alone after I bought it from a non dedicated hobbyist. It looked clean! I failed in that I should have sterilized and cooked the rock before putting it in a new tank. Figured I would just cook it in tank. The toxins re hydrated, and two days later when I turned on a protein skimmer to pull some organics, my family and dogs became very ill in a matter of hours. So just a tip. Never trust rock from anyone. Always bleach.

 

[Julian Sprung]

Fourthwind, when you said "should have cooked..." and "just cook it in tank" you are using common but really very confusing words. Live rock and dead rocks taken from an aquarium should NEVER be HEATED. The word "cook" conveys the idea of boiling or heating. I know you did not mean that, but the average novice aquarist might not understand your use of the word cook.

Your advice to bleach dry rocks is correct. That is what you should have done. The toxin remains active in dried rocks for many years, even if they are left outside in the rain, etc.

Your experience is not unique. I know of other examples where the same thing has happened.

 

[Fourthwind]

Fourthwind, when you said "should have cooked..." and "just cook it in tank" you are using common but really very confusing words. Live rock and dead rocks taken from an aquarium should NEVER be HEATED. The word "cook" conveys the idea of boiling or heating. I know you did not mean that, but the average novice aquarist might not understand your use of the word cook.

Your advice to bleach dry rocks is correct. That is what you should have done. The toxin remains active in dried rocks for many years, even if they are left outside in the rain, etc.

Your experience is not unique. I know of other examples where the same thing has happened.

Your correct Julian. Used to local terminology and that is a mistake when there are inexperienced folks around. Unfortunately there are way too many folks who have had this happen and had no idea. Healthcare workers have zero idea as the toxin does not show up in standard tox screens. Even the vet was baffled and had never seen the reactions my dogs were having. I am still researching myself, but there is so little truly known or published other than can't kill with heat under 700° but can kill with an oxidizer such as bleach or ozone.

 

[TravisParsley]

Yeah, thanks for posting the link to my lecture. I was just preparing to respond here. First, the claim that Xenia was the source of the palytoxin is simply wrong. The aquarist is a novice and made an incorrect assumption because he scraped the Xenia off when moving the rocks. There are two colonies of Palythoa in his aquarium as it is now... I don't know how many were there before he moved the rocks. Here is a link to an article which has appeared on the news in the UK on this incident:
www.itv.com/news/meridian/2018-04-09/couple-poisoned-by-coral-in-their-fish-tank/

which shows the tank in detail.

Here is a screen shot from that story, in which I have outlined the two Palythoa colonies in red.

Through a contact in the organization OATA in the UK I have sent a message to the family to advise them that they still have the source of palytoxin in their aquarium. They now know.

I hope that by posting this here I can help clear up the confusion many are feeling about the report of Xenia being involved. That was a mistake in the reporting. Not a new discovery.

As Randy Holmes-Farley pointed out, using bleach to destroy palytoxin (as a way to eliminate it from rocks that are permanently removed from the aquarium) is effective.
Please review the recent article in Coral Magazine that discusses this in detail.

When Palythoa are exposed to air they exude a large amount of clear mucus. That mucus may contain a very high concentration of palytoxin. No one knows why it does sometimes but not always. The source of the poison is microbes on its surface, not the Palythoa itself. The palytoxin in the mucus can cross the skin barrier without the presence of any cuts or breaks. For that reason gloves are essential. Can the heavy molecule aerosolize? We know that steam and heat can make it do so. Pressure cleaning and brushing can too. Washing under the faucet too. Protein skimming theoretically could aerosolize some from the water, but the use of activated carbon keeps the concentration in check. After moving a large amount of Palythoa, which could produce lots of slime in the water, the skimmer or an air stone could eject some into the air. What about water change? A large colony gets exposed to the air, gives off slime, sits under hot metal halide lights for 15 minutes or so. Could that result in palytoxin getting into the air? I don't know. Most likely not, but if heat can release it, then it seems it is a potential way.

Zoanthus spp., which are relatives of Palythoa, contain much lower concentration of palytoxin or none at all. It is really the Palythoa (a.k.a Protopalythoa) that you need to be careful with.

Thank you Julian.

 

[evoreefer1320]

Can Gorgonians have palytoxin? Also with all the dino outbreaks people are having surprised haven't heard more of these stories. As far as i know some dino species have palytoxin also.

 

[tastyfish]

Yeah, thanks for posting the link to my lecture. I was just preparing to respond here. First, the claim that Xenia was the source of the palytoxin is simply wrong. The aquarist is a novice and made an incorrect assumption because he scraped the Xenia off when moving the rocks. There are two colonies of Palythoa in his aquarium as it is now... I don't know how many were there before he moved the rocks. Here is a link to an article which has appeared on the news in the UK on this incident:
www.itv.com/news/meridian/2018-04-09/couple-poisoned-by-coral-in-their-fish-tank/

which shows the tank in detail.

Here is a screen shot from that story, in which I have outlined the two Palythoa colonies in red.

Through a contact in the organization OATA in the UK I have sent a message to the family to advise them that they still have the source of palytoxin in their aquarium. They now know.

I hope that by posting this here I can help clear up the confusion many are feeling about the report of Xenia being involved. That was a mistake in the reporting. Not a new discovery.

As Randy Holmes-Farley pointed out, using bleach to destroy palytoxin (as a way to eliminate it from rocks that are permanently removed from the aquarium) is effective.
Please review the recent article in Coral Magazine that discusses this in detail.

When Palythoa are exposed to air they exude a large amount of clear mucus. That mucus may contain a very high concentration of palytoxin. No one knows why it does sometimes but not always. The source of the poison is microbes on its surface, not the Palythoa itself. The palytoxin in the mucus can cross the skin barrier without the presence of any cuts or breaks. For that reason gloves are essential. Can the heavy molecule aerosolize? We know that steam and heat can make it do so. Pressure cleaning and brushing can too. Washing under the faucet too. Protein skimming theoretically could aerosolize some from the water, but the use of activated carbon keeps the concentration in check. After moving a large amount of Palythoa, which could produce lots of slime in the water, the skimmer or an air stone could eject some into the air. What about water change? A large colony gets exposed to the air, gives off slime, sits under hot metal halide lights for 15 minutes or so. Could that result in palytoxin getting into the air? I don't know. Most likely not, but if heat can release it, then it seems it is a potential way.

Zoanthus spp., which are relatives of Palythoa, contain much lower concentration of palytoxin or none at all. It is really the Palythoa (a.k.a Protopalythoa) that you need to be careful with.

Excellent and informative post, Julian. Thanks for writing that up! And well done on spotting the polyzoas and contacting the family. Every picture of the tank I saw was a library photo, so didn't see this pic until now.

I decided when I first set my tank up, not to intentionally have palyzoa colonies, due to the possibility of palytoxin (two young children, wasn't going to take the risk) and the fact that it's extremely difficult to identify toxic vs non toxic species visually.

The fact that the emergency services were treated in hospital suggests an aerosol exposure to any palytoxin (unless all of them touched contaminated surfaces and then a mucus membrane). Since he was unlikely to have power washed the rock inside, but some reports say he "scrubbed" the rock, perhaps this was enough or the palytoxin contaminated surfaces also. Although I have read multiple accounts such as this R2R youngster who appear to have suffered effects without heating, scrubbing etc: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/palytoxin.345311/

The media obviously wants a story, but the message to the aquarist is exactly as in your lecture. Be aware and take proper precautions. I also like the adage: Look, but don't touch.

 

[terri_ann]

Yes, I have this problem especially severe respiratory symptoms. Contact and airborne. Started 2 years ago . I have palys, protopalys and zoanthids. Dont risk yourself, others and pets... protection helps! Long process for me to sell all of them... Ugh. Have had them since beginning SW...+25yrs.

 

[ALRUI]

Well, I guess because you are re-scaping your tank.

I just did it myself. Removed about 40lbs of rock to get better flow and a cleaner, less cluttered look. Most of it had been in the tank 2 or more years and had all kinds of growth - some polyps, xenia, etc.

Is there a best practice?

I would definitely take anything one could outdoors so theres plenty of airflow!