SEREMBAN: The results of analysis on the second sample of mussels and water taken from Port Dickson waters by the Kuala Lumpur Fisheries Biosecurity Centre laboratory has still detected biotoxins above the safe intake limit.
Negri Sembilan Department of Fisheries director Kasim Tawe said however it was lower than the first sample but it is still not safe for humans at a rate of 800 parts per billion (ppb).
"We need three tests to identify whether to continue or cancel the ban on taking and selling mussels from the location. The third sample was taken today and the results are expected this Friday.
"So for now, mussels in the area are still not safe to eat and the ban on selling them by retailers or fishermen is still in place," he told Bernama here today.
He said the presence of biotoxins in the waters which also occurs naturally and is likely to be accelerated by weather changes or the nutrient content of the seawater in the waters involved.
On April 4, department deputy director-general (management) Wan Aznan Abdullah was reported to have said that laboratory analysis at the Kuala Lumpur Fisheries Biosecurity Centre found that there was harmful algae that caused mussels in Port Dickson's waters to be contaminated and unsafe to eat.
He said water samples and mussels in the waters were contaminated with biotoxins and dangerous algae species Prorocentrum, Alexandrium and Pseudonitzschia. -- BERNAMA