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The aim of this study was to assess the monitoring programme conducted by the Food Standards Agency Scotland (FSAS) to determine the prevalence of toxins responsible for diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP), paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) and amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP), in shellfish harvested from classified inshore production areas in Scotland.
Study Duration : April 2004 to November 2004
Contractor : Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland
Shellfish harvested from inshore production areas in Scotland are monitored by the Food Standards Agency Scotland (FSAS) for the toxins responsible for amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP), diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP) and paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP). Consumption of shellfish contaminated with these toxins leads to symptoms such as diarrhoea, memory loss, paralysis and in severe cases might lead to death.
Currently, the FSAS monitoring programme is based on testing at those sites where these toxins have been previously detected in shellfish. Monitoring is carried out on a monthly basis, with sites that are known to be at high risk monitored fortnightly during April to September. If toxin levels exceed the statutory safety limit, the harvesting area will be closed until two successive results, at least one week apart, fall below the safety limit.
The aims of the project were to:
The monitoring data on levels of DSP in mussels, PSP in mussels and ASP in king scallop gonads for each site during each month from April 2001 to March 2004 will be used to carry out a risk assessment. The findings of this risk assessment will be used to develop alternative sampling schemes that offer a more efficient allocation of resources or an improved level of public health protection.
The monitoring data from April 2001 to March 2004 provided sufficient information on levels of DSP in mussels, PSP in mussels and ASP in king scallop gonads for each site during each month to enable a risk assessment to be carried out. The risk assessment looked at the chances that a toxic site was not detected by the monitoring scheme (referred to as �risk of non-detection�). Results from the risk assessment of current and alternative monitoring schemes were as follows:
Two things should be noted. First, these findings are based on only three years of historical data. Continued monitoring will be necessary and changes in sampling frequency may be required if there are changes in the observed toxicity patterns. Secondly, the alternative schemes devised during this study were designed to reduce the risk of a site being unknowingly toxic to 10% or 5%. This was an arbitrary choice and before the findings of this study are used to develop future monitoring schemes, FSAS should first determine acceptable risk levels for each of the toxin groups.
Final report is available from the Agency's Information centre.
To obtain a copy, please contact the Enquiry Desk, Information Services, Food Standards Agency (tel: 020 7276 8181/8182 or email:
infocentre@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk
).
Contact
: For any enquiries concerning this research project, please contact the relevant programme contact or email:
science@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk
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