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Journal of Clinical and Experimental Toxicology | Volume: 2
December 03-04, 2018 | Dubai, UAE
International Conference on
6
th
International Conference on
Toxicology, Clinical Toxicology & Pharmacology
Recycling & Waste Management
Joint Event
&
B
etween 2010 and 2014, the Marseille poison center had
been requested by various structures at the national
and European levels to make a synthesis of the new dangers
induced by the toxic marine organisms. At that time, the French
Metropolitan Coast was directly concerned by cumbersome
toxic invaders: in Aquitaine with the Portuguese-man-of-
war (Physalia sp.) swarming in summer; in Brittany with the
sea lettuce of the genus Ulva (mounds in putrefaction on the
beaches produce hydrogen sulfide); in Provence with blooms
of tropical dinoflagellates of the genus Ostreopsis producing
“palytoxin-like” molecules able to contaminate the sea water
but also the surrounding air. If these health problemswith heavy
economic impacts persist a few years later, what more can we
say in 2018? Undeniably, the initial concerns are confirmed: the
direct (overexploitation of fishing sources, water pollution, etc.)
or indirect (global warming) anthropogenic modifications of
aquatic biotopes are at the origin of new marine toxicological
problems to which poison control centers are faced. The list
of these new medical challenges is long: the venomous lion
fish of the Indian Ocean (genus Pterois) has invaded the West
Indies and generates many envenomations; the Red Sea
Lessepsian pufferfish Lagocephalus sceleratus colonized the
entire Mediterranean in record time (confirmed presence in
Spain in 2017) and the consumption of its tetrodotoxin-rich
flesh is potentially lethal; the consumption of sea violets of the
genus Microcosmus is at the origin of unexplained cerebellar
syndromes in Provence but also in Croatia; the presence of
ciguatera is now confirmed at the gates of Europe (native
cases reported for the first time in Madeira and the Canary
Islands); soft corals of the genus Palythoa or Zoanthus have
become undesirable guests in marine aquaria because these
invasive invertebrates can induce severe respiratory and ocular
symptoms in aquarists; Cyanobacterial blooms in fresh and/
or brackish waters are multiplying with the production of
neurotoxins or nephrotoxins with consequences in veterinary
and human medicine. These subjects are fascinating but
worrying because they are witnesses to ecological imbalances
with tangible effects that we did not imagine a few years ago.
Speaker Biography
Luc De Haro is a clinical toxicologist working in the Marseille Poison Centre where he is
the head of the Toxicovigilance unit specialized in the management of patients poisoned
or envenomed by natural toxins (Mushrooms, plants or animals toxins including marine
toxicology).
e:
luc.deharo@ap-hm.frLuc De Haro
Marseille Poison Centre, France
Marine Toxicology: New challenges for Poison Control Centers
Luc De Haro
, Toxicology 2018, Recycling 2018, Volume 2
DOI: 10.4066/2630-4570-C1-001