Feasibility studies into the production of gamma-irradiated oyster tissue reference materials for paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins

A study was conducted to assess the feasibility for the production of sterile, stable and homogenous shellfish reference materials containing known concentrations of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxins. Pacific oysters were contaminated with toxins following mass culturing of toxic algae and shellfish feeding experiments. Live oysters were shucked and tissues homogenised, before measuring into multiple aliquots, with one batch subjected to gamma irradiation treatment and the other remaining untreated. The homogeneity of both batches of samples was assessed using a pre-column oxidation liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (Pre-COX LC-FLD) method and shown to be within the limits of normal within-batch repeatability. A twelve-month stability experiment was conducted for both untreated and gamma irradiated batches, specifically examining the effects of long term storage at −20 °C, +4 °C and +40 °C. Results indicated mostly good stability of PSP toxins in both materials when stored frozen at −20 °C, but with the instability of GTX2&3 concentrations in the untreated tissues eliminated in the irradiated tissues. Analysis using a post-column oxidation (PCOX) LC-FLD method also showed epimerisation in both GTX1&4 and GTX2&3 epimeric pairs in untreated samples after only 6 months frozen storage. This issue was not present in the tissues irradiated before long term storage. Biological activity testing confirmed the absence of bacteria in the irradiated samples throughout the 12 month study period. With such results there was clear evidence for the potential of increasing the scale of the mass culturing and shellfish feeding for the production of large batches of tissue suitable for the preparation of a certified matrix reference material. Overall results demonstrated the feasibility for production of oyster reference materials for PSTs, with evidence for prolonged stability following gamma irradiation treatment and storage at −20 °C.