Peroxide WARNING!

[dougers31]

Thought I'd post this after I learned a valuable lesson last night.... If you dip zoas/palys in a peroxide/saltwater mix to get rid of algae etc, DO NOT look closely at them to see if you can see any pests etc while they're in the peroxide.... Keep your distance. I made this mistake and (IMO)suffered for it.

Story....
So yesterday I decided to dip the rest of my paly/zoa frags and small colonies that had algae issues and used a 3:1 ratio of saltwater and Hy. Peroxide. Like an idiot I wanted to see if there were any pests that might have fallen off in the mixture(None found) so I leaned in close while they were bubbling to get a good look, big mistake.... Later that (last)night around 8pm or so I started getting a bad headache, and started shaking because I couldn't get warm. I also started to get nuaseus(need spell check)and had difficulty taking a deep breath. It was well past midnight before some of the symptoms started to subside. Even now as I write this I am experiencing a Bad Headache. Now that I think about it I was extremely thirsty all night too.

The shaking was pretty bad and scared my wife(and me) pretty good. I really started to get concerned when I put 2 and 2 together and realized my symptoms could possibly be due to zoa/paly toxins.


My theory is that the zoas/palys added a whole bunch of their juices to the mix, and when the peroxide started bubbling to the surface it released and made airborne anything that was in the mix(palytoxin?). So I inhaled whatever it was that was in the container when I was looking for pests.... Brilliant!

 

[Electrobes]

Yikes, I can only imagine what that mix would do to anyone's system. I've never heard of peroxide being used as a dip in saltwater.. I learn something new everyday in this hobby!

Thanks for sharing!

 

[dougers31]

Yikes, I can only imagine what that mix would do to anyone's system. I've never heard of peroxide being used as a dip in saltwater.. I learn something new everyday in this hobby!

Thanks for sharing!

There are a couple of threads on here about using hy. peroxide to kill algae(and pests) on zoa/paly frags etc. I also experimented with a couple of sps frags... they don't look so good today.

 

[fsu1dolfan]

Thanks for the heads up Dougers - I have actually started to dabble with these kinds of dips so i probably should be careful...hope you feel better!

 

[Electrobes]

There are a couple of threads on here about using hy. peroxide to kill algae(and pests) on zoa/paly frags etc. I also experimented with a couple of sps frags... they don't look so good today.

lol!

 

[Viva'sReef]

wow that is scary....I would have just thought it was food poisoning or and allergic reaction to something I ate since that is the exact symptoms I had when I ate Escargot on our cruise last October.

 

[-Logzor]

I had a similar experience from just handling large grandis palys. It actually caused numbness in my fingers. I didn't breath anything in though..

 

[dougers31]

wow that is scary....I would have just thought it was food poisoning or and allergic reaction to something I ate since that is the exact symptoms I had when I ate Escargot on our cruise last October.

I might have considered food poisoning if upchucked or something, but I remember feeling kinda funny right after dipping and inhaling... wish my headache would go away

 

[CJO]

And just a day after a reminder warning was posted up here. This seems to be happening more and more. Glad to hear that you are doing better.

CJ

 

[CJO]

I might have considered food poisoning if upchucked or something, but I remember feeling kinda funny right after dipping and inhaling... wish my headache would go away

You're not still having difficulty breathing, are you? If you are, you really should go see a doctor.

CJ

 

[dougers31]

You're not still having difficulty breathing, are you? If you are, you really should go see a doctor.

CJ

I didn't really have difficulty breathing, it was just if I wanted to take a really deep breath. Today I'm able to do that thankfully.

 

[dougers31]

Someone on my local forum posted this link... looks like I was lucky. Just hoping nothing else comes of it.
http://mblogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2011/04/05/world%E2%80%99s-2nd-deadliest-poison-in-an-aquarium-store-near-you/

 

[fsu1dolfan]

Someone on my local forum posted this link... looks like I was lucky. Just hoping nothing else comes of it.
http://mblogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2011/04/05/world%E2%80%99s-2nd-deadliest-poison-in-an-aquarium-store-near-you/

Yeah i saw this referenced in another thread...some scary stuff. Definitely keep an eye on anything out of the normal and i agree if anything gets worse...never hurts to see a doc!

 

[Der ABT]

dang man glad your ok, i have been doing dips as well (actually in fully peroxide with no bad results yet) and thankfully have never gotten that close but with the baby around, i may have to wait till she is sleeping to do this.

if only the basement had a window...may start using a fan to keep air moving.

 

[ReeferBean]

I've used peroxide to dip plugs with algae, but just the plug not the coral.

Glad you seem to be doing better!

 

[liquid]

Man, I'm glad you're OK! I wouldn't have initially thought about this but yeah, bubbling peroxide could definitely aerosolize all sorts of nasties. I'm surprised it didn't oxidize whatever toxin it was but apparently it didn't.

FYI I did a 2 part post on Advanced Aquarist about palytoxin last month - one about that LFS/Discover Magazine link earlier and then another one about someone that worked at Marine Depot Live that had it happen to her and her experience at the emergency room:

Palytoxin, the World's Second Deadliest Poison, Possibly Available at Your LFS — Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine

Palythoa Toxica Poisoning - One Reefkeeper's Personal Experience With Palytoxin Poisoning — Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine

I'm really tempted to start gathering stories about people and their experience with stuff like this. After searching around about this subject I've been quite surprised at how few people actually realize how nasty some of this stuff can be that we keep in our glass boxes!

Shane

 

[newreefer2]

Thanks for the warning. I knew to wear safety because they can shoot toxins but never would have thought about fumes being a problem. Thanks for posting