The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued a warning to avoid eating locally harvested shellfish due to high levels of domoic acid. This toxin largely affects seabirds and marine mammals, since their primary food source, shellfish, bioaccumulates the toxin in their tissue. Domoic acid is a neurotoxin that naturally occurs in microalgae blooms, also known as harmful algal blooms (HABs). However, the blooms are becoming more frequent likely due to increasing coastal nutrient inputs (largely agricultural run-off). Here is a great fact sheet for reference.
1 comment:
Demoic acid poisoning was the cause of the event that inspired the Hitchcock movie 'The birds'? Wow, somehow I didn't know that. That movie scared the crap out of me when I was a kid. It's actually pretty funny to watch now but I think I first saw it when I was 6 or 7 and like most things you see when you are too young it had a fairly indelible effect. I've never liked birds.....
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