Hazards Associated with the Consumption of Sea Turtle Meat and Eggs: A Review for Health Care Workers and the General Public

Abstract

Sea turtle products (e.g., meat, adipose tissue, organs, blood, eggs) are common food items for many communities worldwide, despite national regulations in some countries prohibiting such consumption.However, there may be hazards associated with this consumption due to the presence of bacteria, parasites, biotoxins, and environmental contaminants. Reported health effects of consuming sea turtles infected with zoonotic pathogens include diarrhea, vomiting, and extreme dehydration, which occasionally have resulted in hospitalization and death. Levels of heavy metals and organochlorine compounds measured in sea turtle edible tissues exceed international food safety standards and could result in toxic effects including neurotoxicity, kidney disease, liver cancer, and developmental effects in fetuses and children. The health data presented in this review provide information to health care providers and the public concerning the potential hazards associated with sea turtle consumption. Based on past mortality statistics from turtle poisonings, nursing mothers and children should be particularly discouraged from consuming all sea turtle products. We recommend that individuals choose seafood items lower in the food chain that may have a lower contaminant load. Dissemination of this information via a public health campaign may simultaneously improve public health and enhance sea turtle conservation by reducing human consumption of these threatened and endangered species.

Comparative Health Assessment of Western Pacific Leatherback Turtles (Dermochelys Coriacea) Foraging Off the Coast of California, 2005–2007

“…Mercury bioaccumulates in food chains and has been associated with the suppression of lymphocyte proliferation in loggerhead and Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempi) sea turtles (Day et al, 2007). Although the effects of metals on leatherbacks are largely unknown, these results have important implications for human health where people consume leatherback eggs, meat, and internal organs (Aguirre at al., 2006). None of the OC or PCB analytes were detected in the blood of leatherbacks in this study with the available detection limits (5 ppb for OCs and 1-10 ppb for PCBs).…”

The green turtle Chelonia mydas as a marine and coastal environmental sentinels: anthropogenic activities and diseases

“…The turtle-endemic biotoxin, chelonitoxin, has not been identified, but investigations suggest that it is derived from certain species of invertebrates or algae in the diet of sea turtles and can cause nausea, vomiting, pain, polyarthralgia, drowsiness or psychomotor agitation, multiorgan failure, coma and ultimately death in humans (FUSSY et al, 2007;HADDAD JÚNIOR, 2016). Furthermore, levels of trace elements and organic compounds in sea turtle tissue have exceeded international food safety standards with possible toxic effects, including neurotoxicity, cancer, and developmental effects, especially in fetuses and children (AGUIRRE et al, 2006).…”

To Poach or Not to Poach an Endangered Species: Elucidating the Economic and Social Drivers Behind Illegal Sea Turtle Hunting in Baja California Sur, Mexico

“…An additional strategy for reducing social acceptance may be to educate residents on why sea turtles might be unhealthy to consume. For example, Senko et al (2009) found that residents in BCS overwhelmingly viewed sea turtle meat as a healthy food source even though growing evidence (see Aguirre et al 2006;Fussy et al 2007) suggests that eating sea turtles may be harmful to human health because of biotoxins, environmental contaminants, parasites, bacteria, and dubious processing and transporting of meat via unregulated black market circuits.…”

“…Turtle meat has traditionally been served at weddings, Christmas, Mother's Day, Sundays, and most frequently at Easter (Garcia-Martínez and Nichols 2000; Nichols et al 2003;Senko et al 2009). Although recent studies have demonstrated possible health risks associated with the consumption of sea turtle products (Aguirre et al 2006;Fussy et al 2007;Senko et al 2009), the blood is used to treat anemia and asthma, the oil for childhood respiratory problems, and internal organs are sometimes used in soups (Caldwell 1963;Mack et al 1982;Felger and Moser 1987;Senko et al 2009).…”