Biotoxins: Part 3
On June 12, 2002, President George W. Bush signed into law the Public Health and
Safety Act of 2002 (PL 107-188) which requires that the Department of Health and
Human Services maintain a list of biological agents and toxins which pose a severe treat
to public safety. The list of biotoxins, as it appears in the August 23, 2002 Federal
Resister, (see also 42 CFR Part 72, Appendix A) is as follows:
• Abrin
• Botulinum neurotoxins
• Clostridium perfringens epsilon toxin
• Conotoxins
• Diacetoxyscirpenol
• Ricin
• Saxitoxin
• Shigatoxin and Shiga-like toxins
• Staphylococcal enterotoxins
• Tetrodotoxin
• T-2 toxin
The U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) lumps several of these toxins into a broad
classification called “Selected Low Molecular Weight (LMW) Toxins”. These include
(1) conotoxins, (2) Saxitoxin, (3) Tetrodotoxin, (4) the T-2 toxin, and (5)
Diacetoxyscirpenol, as opposed to the other listings which are “Protein Toxins,” which
have a high molecular weight. Generally speaking, the low molecular weight toxins are
not destroyed by cooking and might be potentially used by a terrorist to contaminate
surfaces and food as they are more stable in the environment, and can be more potentially
inhaled as an aerosol. Four of the LMW toxins are discussed in this Newsletter.
Some other LMW Toxins recognized by CDC but not appearing on the Department of
Health and Human short list are brevetoxins, palytoxin, and microcystins.
Some other LMW Toxins recognized by CDC but not appearing on the Department of
Health and Human short list are brevetoxins, palytoxin, and microcystins.
Conotoxins
Conotoxins are neurotoxins derived from marine cone snails of the genus Conus that
occur in the Indian-Pacific Oceans especially off the coast of Australia. Cone snails do
not occur naturally off the coast of the United States (Hawaii an exception) or Europe.
The conotoxins are in the toxin sacs of these predatory snails. The snails use their venom
to immobilize and kill fish, shellfish, and marine worms. Conotoxins are a complex
group of chemicals made up of typically 12 to 40 amino acid residues forming compact
peptide molecules of which over 2000 different variant combinations are known. There
are probably over 50,000 different conotoxins in existence from perhaps 500 different
species of cone snails. Any cone snail species can inject a mix of many different
conotoxins.
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