ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with two analytical alternatives to the conventional mouse bioassay, high-performance liquid chromatography and immunological techniques. It illustrates how these methods may be successfully incorporated into the monitoring of Paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxins in commercial depuration facilities or used in conducting detoxification experiments. PSP is a serious, and occasionally fatal, syndrome caused by the consumption of toxic shellfish by humans. In most temperate waters, the organisms responsible for PSP contamination are usually marine dinoflagellates belonging to the genus Alexandrium and Gymnodinium catenatum; in the tropics. In a study on the depuration of PSP toxins in the soft-shell clam Myaarenaria, ozone treatment of seawater was also found to greatly accelerate toxin loss. Most analytical methods for the determination of PSP toxin levels in shellfish have been based upon the oxidation of these tetrapurine toxins to fluorescent pyrimido-purine derivatives under alkaline condition.
