Daily Express Thursday, August 8, 2019 15DX1STBy News Reporter
TOXIC mercury in seafood
is made worse by climate
change, scientists fear.
Oceans absorb the
brain-damaging chemical
from polluted air.
Cod and tuna need more
energy to swim in warmer
seas, forcing them to eat
even more prey which is
itself poisoned.
Elsie Sunderland, of
Harvard University in the
US, said in journal Nature:
“Climate change is going
to exacerbate exposure...
we need to regulate both
mercury emissions and
greenhouse gases.”Toxic alert
in seafood
Gas from f ish
tank’s coral
nearly killed
me says mum
Katie Stevenson
with daughters
Skyla, Lacey and
Taleisha. Inset
right, the deadly
family fish tankA MUM-OF-FOUR nearly died from
cleaning out the family fish tank,
when its coral released one of the
world’s most poisonous gases.
After being poisoned by the deco-
rative bridge she was cleaning, Katie
Stevenson, 34, was put into isolation
for 48 hours. She also had her home
sealed by the ambulance service’s
Hazardous Area Response Team.
Doctors battled to save her from
the palytoxin, a chemical released by
coral when it comes under attack.
The toxin, which can block the
lungs, is said to be the second most
deadly in the world.
Medics were able to stabilise Katie
with IV fluids and antibiotics.
Her husband Mark and their three
daughters – Lacey, 11, Taleisha, seven,
and Skyla, one – also had to be put
in a lockdown ward after suffering
similar but less severe symptoms.
Their 14-year-old son Cole was
safe, staying away with a cousin.
Paramedics who took them to hos-
pital from their home in Newport,
Shropshire, had the same treatment.
Katie is still unable to eat due to an
inflamed stomach from the exposure
more than a week ago.
She is calling for warning leaflets to
be handed out whenever coral is sold.
She said: “The doctors told me and
Mark that if we’d gone to sleep that
night we wouldn’t have woken up.
“When I got into bed I couldn’t
touch myself I was that hot. I thought
I was going to die. I’ve had night-
mares ever since and I can’t sleep.
“People need to know what they’re
dealing with if they have a marine
fish tank. Nobody seems to know
how dangerous coral can be and we
only found out the hard way.”
Kate developed a raging fever less
than an hour after she had finished
scrubbing the coral. She began shiver-
ing, shaking and hallucinating.
As she became more breathless and
her temperature rose to 113F (45C)
she searched the internet and discov-
ered that coral can release the toxin.DEADLY DEFENCE
PALYTOXINS are released by
corals called Palythoa
zoanthids.
The flower animals are in
98 per cent of home aquariums
with corals, but many owners
are unaware of their danger.
Palytoxin is released as a
defence mechanism when the
coral feels it is under attack.
It causes severe and
potentially fatal respiratory
distress, for which there is no
antidote.
One gram of palytoxin can kill
80 people.Pictures: CASCADE NEWS