Analysis of paralytic shellfish poisons in bivalves collected from different coastal areas in Hainan Island

To understand the distribution pattern of paralytic shellfish poisons(PSP) along the coast of Hainan Island, an investigation was carried out and ninety-five shellfish samples belonging to 14 species were collected in 5 sampling sites from December 2010 to September 2011. PSP toxicity were determined using the mouse bioassay and the toxin profile were analysed with HPLC-FD. The results showed that PSP toxicity of the samples were low. The maximum toxicity was 3.576 Mu/g, which was lower than the public health safety threshold(4 Mu/g). The positive rate was 11.58%. The rate showed a remarkable seasonal difference. The highest rate was in winter(62.5%) followed by late summer(3.26%). No PSP toxin was detected in spring and in early summer. The geographical pattern of PSP toxin contamination was also quite obviously, which mainly appeared in the coastal areas of Lingshui and Wenchang. The shellfish species that were subjected to PSP contamination included Crassostrea rivularis, Pitar striata, Nassarius coronatus, Perna viridis and Atrina pectinata. Eleven PSP toxins, including GTX4, GTX1, C1, C2, NEO, STX, dcGTX2, dcGTX3, GTX3, GTX2 and dcSTX, were detected in the samples with high performance liquid chromatography with fluorometric detection.