Palytoxin is a serious hazard, but simple precautions greatly reduce the risk when keeping zoanthids and palythoa.
Palytoxin is one of the most toxic non-protein substances known. It is found in some Palythoa and Zoanthus colonies and can be present in colorful aquarium morphs as well as drab wild ones. Many hobbyists keep zoanthids without problems, but serious illness has been reported. Most reported poisonings involve handling colonies out of water or activities like fragging, scrubbing, boiling, or moving rock, and people nearby who never touched the coral have also become ill.
How exposure happens
- Eyes: fluid squirting from a colony during handling or fragging. Eye exposure can cause serious, painful injury.
- Skin: handling colonies with bare hands, especially with cuts or scrapes.
- Breathing it in: toxin becoming airborne when rock with colonies is boiled, heated, pressure-washed, scrubbed, cut with power tools, or moved or left out of water.
- Swallowing: touching your mouth after handling corals.
Symptoms
Symptoms vary with the route of exposure and can include:
- Eye pain, redness, sensitivity to light, and blurred vision
- Coughing, shortness of breath, and chest tightness
- Fever, chills, and flu-like illness
- Muscle aches, weakness, tremors, numbness, or tingling
- Nausea, headache, or dizziness
- A bitter or metallic taste
- Skin rash or numbness at the contact site
Severe cases can affect breathing and the heart and need hospital care.
Symptoms can start within minutes to hours. They are easy to mistake for flu, which is why it's important to tell doctors what you were doing.
Essential precautions
- Always wear eye protection. Use wraparound safety glasses or goggles whenever you handle, frag, or dip zoanthids.
- Wear gloves. Use nitrile gloves, and cover any cuts on your hands and arms.
- Consider a respirator mask that covers your nose and mouth, especially when removing colonies, cleaning rock, or working with Palythoa.
- Keep the colony underwater when cutting it.
- Never boil, microwave, or heat rock with zoanthids or palythoa on it. Heat does not destroy palytoxin and can send it into the air.
- Don't scrub, pressure-wash, or use power tools on colonies out of water.
- Ventilate the room when working on colonies or cleaning rock, and stay out of any area where rock is drying.
- Keep your hands away from your face until gloves are off and hands are washed.
- Keep children and pets away while you work.
Removing unwanted colonies
To get rid of an unwanted colony or rock:
- Wearing gloves, eye protection, and a respirator mask, slip a bag or container over the rock while it is still underwater, then lift it out without exposing the colony to air.
- Soak it in a fresh solution of 1 part plain, unscented regular household bleach (not thick or gel bleach) to 9 parts water in a covered container, outdoors or in a well-ventilated area.
- Leave it for several days.
- If you plan to reuse the rock, rinse it thoroughly, soak it in fresh water treated with dechlorinator, and let it dry fully before reuse.
- Never mix bleach with other cleaners.
Seal used gloves, towels, and coral tissue in a bag before throwing them out.
What to do if you're exposed
- Eyes: remove contact lenses, then rinse immediately with clean, lukewarm running water for at least 15 minutes, tilting your head so the water runs away from the other eye. Then get emergency medical care. Don't wait for symptoms to worsen.
- Skin: wash with soap and plenty of water.
- Breathing problems, chest pain, or feeling unwell after exposure: go to an emergency room or call 911 (or your local emergency number).
- For advice, call Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222 (US).
Tell medical staff you were exposed to palytoxin from a zoanthid or palythoa coral. Many clinicians have never seen a case.
Higher-risk corals
True Palythoa, especially brown "button" types and morphs like Purple Death, need the most caution. If you aren't comfortable taking full precautions, keep to Zoanthus morphs and avoid fragging Palythoa entirely.