Palytoxin Poisoning

I'm a little skeptical about some of these claims only because i constantly see people handling zoas and palys with no gloves and no other type of equipment. And just like some of these members posting pics with swollen eyes and going to the ER, if palys were indeed so deadly why would people not handle them with care ?? its supposed to be the second most toxic compound in the world and yet no one is dying from them. I think they are toxic to some point where they will give you a reaction but i dont think we really have much of the species in this hobby that actually will kill you. Thats just my thought, i could be wrong...but this is what common sense it telling me.
 
My thought would be that we probably are not exposed to a lethal dose of it in most cases. But also a sub-leathal dose is probably not healthy. So theres really no use in not handling them with care if you decide to keep them
 
It is a dangerous compound, however our skin protects us from the toxins released by them when we handle them.

The danger comes when people have cuts, or any open wound for that matter, or any type of exposure to the eyes, mouth etcetera.

I have a lot of respect for zoas when I touch them and specially when I frag them.

Goggles are ALWAYS on but gloves aren't... Lol.

I just can't do anything with gloves...
 
I'm a little skeptical about some of these claims only because i constantly see people handling zoas and palys with no gloves and no other type of equipment. And just like some of these members posting pics with swollen eyes and going to the ER, if palys were indeed so deadly why would people not handle them with care ?? its supposed to be the second most toxic compound in the world and yet no one is dying from them. I think they are toxic to some point where they will give you a reaction but i dont think we really have much of the species in this hobby that actually will kill you. Thats just my thought, i could be wrong...but this is what common sense it telling me.
Click to expand...

Common sense should tell you to read more about these animals and their capabilities. People get lax when working on tanks and dealing with all these saltwater animals. Do you know you can easily get tetanus from the water in our tanks if you had deep cuts? if your not using PPE when dealing with Z's and P's and fragging, you should start. EVERYONE SHOULD.
 
A buddy of mine always seemed to almost go into an asthma attack when cutting polyps, now wears a chemical mask used for painting that contains carbon in the filter when cutting polyps.
 
jasjenne said:
Great info. I now use rubber gloves and eye protection. Palytoxins can be very dangerous.
Click to expand...

I'd add some mouth protection as well, if it can get in your eyes it can get in your mouth. Equally bad.

I cut some zoas last night and accidentally crazy glued my tweezers to my glove. when I pulled it off there was a hole in my glove. I scrubbed my hands like a surgeon before I replaced the gloves and moved on.

Maybe i'm a bit paranoid but i'm still alive :)
 
Suspected Palytoxin Inhalation Exposures Associated with Zoanthid Corals in Aquarium Shops and Homes — Alaska, 2012–2014

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6431a4.htm?s_cid=mm6431a4_e


My brother runs a lab for NIH and sent me a little "light reading" that is critical to our hobby if anyone works with palyothoa/zoanthids. I know this has been discussed before, but here's a little more info that may come in mighty handy.

Please make this a "sticky", pass it to your friends in the hobby, and make sure your local pet shops get a copy as well. It might be a good idea to see if we could get copies to the local emergency rooms as well. :dry:

Mods: I'd like to post this in the zoanthid section as well, but I'll let you decide where it can get the widest dissemination.

Ray
 
Someone just sent me this story today....... referencing the Alaska and CDC story....

http://m.livescience.com/51853-corals-toxin-hazard-aquariums.html

But I wonder if they meant this to be for live zoas - or ones you wanted to
stay that way: "The toxin from zoanthids can be neutralized by soaking the coral for 30 minutes in household bleach and water. " I bet that neutralizes more than the toxin?

Folks, always use protection. That said I have handled thousands of zoa rocks,
bare-handed and never had any issue whatsoever. Though never played with
Hawai'i Palys.

Better safe than sorry, ounce of prevention .....

birdfish
 
Rocket scientist born everyday

Rocket scientist born everyday

http://www.ijreview.com/2015/08/399278-couple-goes-to-er-because-they-cant-breathe-and-its-all-from-what-they-took-out-of-the-tank/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=owned&utm_campaign=morning-newsletter

Good god when will the stupidity end... Family poisoned and off to ER after boiled paly's in home. Paly's and Zoa's seem to be on CDC radar and probably that of other government orgs. I would not be surprised if they are not banned from possession or sale at least starting in some liberal nanny state like CA, NY, NJ.
 
i almost died

i almost died

I was having light tank problems with a 3 month old biotope 21 gallon tank everything broke, the fans, the light, the pump, so I decided in a last ditch effort to save my coral to move them into a new tank.around 4 pm I finshed I washed my hands afterwards, my husband works nights and he left for work, I put my kids to bed, at around pm I start feeling like I have the flu, freezing cold and burning hot at the same time, slightly nauseous, I try to lay down mu back start hurting. By 11pm I'm so uncomfortable I cant lay down, everytime I lay down I feel worse. Now my skin on my chest , sides, and back feels like it was on fire, as time progresses it gets so bad I get into the shower by the time I got out of the shower I'm so weak I could even walk to my closet to dressed. I tryed to lay down thats when the pain in my skin started moving deeper like into my muscles then what felt like my heart and or lungs. So I had to force myself to sit up or I felt like I would die. I thought I was having a heart attack. I was 33 in good health. So I thought I was nuts. I could even move to he to my phone I was literally frozen cuz if I tried to move the heart pain was worse. Then I started vomiting on myself. My husband came home at 6:30 am to find me sitting on the bed naked in vomit with tears running down my face. I wouldn't move or talk to tell him what was wrong. Cuz it hurt to bad. I didn't even know what palytoxin poisoning was. He was like I'm going to call 911 I said no. I was thinking it was like in my head. Like a panic attack from hell or something. By 9am I was 70% better, but I still couldn't lay down. When my back started hurting I took my 8yr old daughters prescription cough syrup because it had codine in it. So I also thought maybe I was allergic to that. I only took 2 table spoons. Was honestly the worse thing I've ever lived through worse than when I gave birth and my epidural didn't work. I went to the Dr that day. He confired it wasn't the codine cuz he perscribe it to me before I had forgotten and had no reaction. He couldn't figure out what happened to me a week later my husband told one of his reefer friends about what happened to me. And that guys says paly toxin posioning we google it, exactly my symptoms. Scary as hell
 
i rubbed my eye once after handling green Palythoa and woke up the next day looking like i aged 20 years it went away after a week,i guess i was lucky it wasnt worse
 
Great information...Thanks for posting...My tank is not running yet but its almost there and it's going to be a zoa garden ..I'm glad I found this post!!!
 
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