Pollution Characteristics and Risk Assessment of Paralytic Shellfish Toxins in Shellfish from Hebei coastal Waters

• Main Authors: Xiaokang LI, Haiyan WU, Ling CHENG, Hanyu CHE, Lijuan LIU, Haijin MOU, Zhijun TAN, Guanchao ZHENG
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Chinese
• Published: Science Press, PR China 2024
• Subjects: paralytic shellfish toxins; hebei province; shellfish; contamination characteristics; safety assessment; Aquaculture. Fisheries. Angling; SH1-691; Crassostrea gigas
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.19663/j.issn2095-9869.20230801001; https://doaj.org/article/e5f4dab6c60944fa8cd7132e66b3736e

Paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs) are a class of acute neurotoxins with nearly 60 congeners. Shellfish that filter feed on toxin-producing algae exhibit PST accumulation in tissues, and the consumption of toxic shellfish poses a major threat to human health. China has the largest aquaculture industry in the world, with shellfish production of approximately 15.89 million tons in 2022 and many shellfish consumers. The PST poisoning incidents in China exhibit the characteristics of a wide distribution area, recurring regional risk, diverse toxin sources, and seasonal differences. PST consumption causes acute symptoms of poisoning and even death in many people, with a high lethality rate. This is a serious threat to the health of consumers and detrimental to the social stability of the region. In northern China, Hebei Province has rich fisheries resources, with a mariculture output of approximately 580, 000 tons in 2022. In recent years, PSTs have been detected several times in bivalve shellfish inshore in Hebei Province, especially along the coast of Qinhuangdao. A serious shellfish poisoning episode was reported in Qinhuangdao in 2016, with PST concentrations exceeding the safety limit of 800 μgSTX equivalents/kg (μg STXeq/kg) by a factor of 65. The main algal species responsible for the poisoning was Alexandrium catenella. However, the current investigations of PST pollution in Hebei Province mainly focus on the shellfish species Mytilus galloprovincialis and Argopecten irradians in the sea area of Shanhaiguan, Qinhuangdao, and investigations on other coastal cities of Hebei Province and a wide range of different shellfish species are lacking. Moreover, few risk assessment studies have been conducted.A continuous PST survey was conducted in 2022 on six species of shellfish, namely M. galloprovincialis, Scapharca subcrenata, A. irradians, Scapharca broughtonii, Ruditapes philippinarum, and Crassostrea gigas, collected by netting in Tangshan and Qinhuangdao, and the residual status of PSTs was assessed for acute ...