A warning about toxicity. A MUST read.
- Thread starter musicsmaker
- Start date
Think its possible to get immune to the toxins? Iv been working with zoas for a year now almost every day i cut them,12 months ago i felt very light headed and a zing throwout my body.i have cats so yeah lots of scratches,but now i only feel minor slowness in my hands like arthritis. any thoughts to immunity?
saltyboy84
New member
i dont get it i move my zoas with my bare hands and i never knew of this toxin, can this toxin be absorbed by the skin or is it like a jellyfish and stings you, and if you handel the zoa a lot over a long time i think your body would not be affected by its toxins, like all things your body builds up an natural defense against it. thats my quess
SnapDragon
Member
I read the original post awhile back. My spouse makes me wear safety goggles. They are HUGE and look hilarious, but I feel better that I am protecting my eyes. I also try to use gloves as much as possible and think that I am going to get some of the good ones from the vet.
NanoCube-boy
New member
I think i'm going to never buy zoanthids and button corals. I'm too scare now.
With this in mind, a snake bite is imedaitley injected to the muscle and blood stream, and the mamba's venom is a mixture between neurotoxins and cardiotoxins, the normal bite/injection direct to blood stream is, 100 - 120mg, only which 10 -15mg is it's LD50 ( Lethal Dose to 50% of Human Population.)
With that in perspective, if a Zoa could inject you with 100 -120mg, directly into your blood, It's cardiotoxin would be more deadly than that of the black mamba.
Norse
New member
I have read this thread from the beginning and I´m very surprised. I always do my maintenance work without gloves and I don´t knew how but my hands burn out a lot of time after introduce them in the water. I have about 15 kind of zoanthids in my tank and now I may have the answer for my skin irritation...
I´m going to wear gloves next time... Thank you for the information!
I´m going to wear gloves next time... Thank you for the information!
the site says that the toxin is found in "palythoa" corals. which when i look it up, these corals are your giant button polyps. NOT your zoos. zoos are from the family "zoanthus". i have heard many things about soft coral blood being toxic, so all corals must be toxic. but if someone died from "coral poisoning" you think it would be all over the news.... right? i mean, if you have a cut, you may get an infection, but nothing deadly.
i think people are emphasizing this A LOT!!!!!! if concerned be careful, i wash my hand before and after mataining my tank, and then i will go eat and have no problem! it makes sense..... THINK REALITY PEOPLE!
NanoCube-boy
New member
I got my second zoanthid set and I handle them bare hand without cuts. Well, it's not a big deal, but if you have cuts, wear gloves, don't touch your face after handling them. Wash your hands throughly with soap twice.
Heres how I was my hands... after working on tank.
1.Rinse throughly in cold water only for 15seconds with high flow, that way if zoanthid juicy gets on your hand, it doesn't vapor much in cold water than warm water.
2. Apply soap, lather on hand and rinse under warm to hot water for 15seconds, to kill bacterias.
3. Dry your hands throughly with a clean cloths or napkins.
If you feel to use the restroom, hahahahaha wash and use step two to three. hahahahaha
Heres how I was my hands... after working on tank.
1.Rinse throughly in cold water only for 15seconds with high flow, that way if zoanthid juicy gets on your hand, it doesn't vapor much in cold water than warm water.
2. Apply soap, lather on hand and rinse under warm to hot water for 15seconds, to kill bacterias.
3. Dry your hands throughly with a clean cloths or napkins.
If you feel to use the restroom, hahahahaha wash and use step two to three. hahahahaha
sacremon
New member
Mind you, the source of the toxin is not thought to necessarily be the zoanthids or paly's themselves, but from a dinoflagellate, which would explain the broad distribution of this toxin in a variety of animals. Thus I wouldn't be too quick to assume zoas are safe as opposed to paly's, but on the other hand I would be less worried about handling a frag that was aquacultured vs. one that was collected from the ocean.
There is a recent report of a man in Japan who died after eating a cowfish. The symptoms were consistent with palytoxin - first weakness of his arms and lungs, then muscle tissue started to disintegrate, heart attack and kidney failure, brain death and then finally died after 16 days from eating the fish. I doubt the cowfish itself was generating the toxin, but rather it was from something it ate.
edit: a report of a poisoning from handling zoas.
There is a recent report of a man in Japan who died after eating a cowfish. The symptoms were consistent with palytoxin - first weakness of his arms and lungs, then muscle tissue started to disintegrate, heart attack and kidney failure, brain death and then finally died after 16 days from eating the fish. I doubt the cowfish itself was generating the toxin, but rather it was from something it ate.
edit: a report of a poisoning from handling zoas.
Last edited:
NanoCube-boy
New member
That's scary. Does that person have a cut on their hands or touch their mouth, eyes, noise or ears?
sacremon
New member
'skin injuries on the hands'. They analyzed the zoas and found that they were 2-3 mg/g palytoxin, which is a huge amount (that is 0.2-0.3% by weight of the zoa).
edit: If you are asking about the first guy - he ate it. Evidently ingesting the toxin is a viable route of administration as well.
edit: If you are asking about the first guy - he ate it. Evidently ingesting the toxin is a viable route of administration as well.
Zoos were actually used in a form of Chemical warfare the same way Poison Dart Frogs were used. Indigenous peoples would dip the tips of their spears in them, and they were known to cause death. And this was hundreds of years ago. A well known (by people who study such things) anthropological fact of many islander peoples.
Also, a couple of weeks ago I was working with some yellow's and all of the sudden the paper towel I blotted them dry with to glue the on a rock was mustard yellow, and I looked at my fingers and they had the same yellow tincture look on them. I FREAKED OUT, and dropped everything and washed my hands immediately--soap and water, and I never use soap when I'm working in my tanks.
I don't understand why so many people are so skeptical--nature, especially sea life, has many such methods of self-protection.
Also, a couple of weeks ago I was working with some yellow's and all of the sudden the paper towel I blotted them dry with to glue the on a rock was mustard yellow, and I looked at my fingers and they had the same yellow tincture look on them. I FREAKED OUT, and dropped everything and washed my hands immediately--soap and water, and I never use soap when I'm working in my tanks.
I don't understand why so many people are so skeptical--nature, especially sea life, has many such methods of self-protection.
NanoCube-boy
New member
Scary man... Just be careful.
Similar threads
