No (shark fin) soup for you! It may be harmful

The destruction of sharks for shark fin soup has helped put many wild species of the fish on the road to extinction. Now, new research suggests this costly meal may harm humans, too.

An analysis of shark fins from Florida waters found high concentrations of Beta-N-methylamino-L-alanine, or BMAA, a neurotoxin that has been linked to Alzheimer's and Lou Gehrig's disease. The find raises concerns that consuming shark meat and cartilage may put consumers at risk.

?The concentrations of BMAA in the samples are a cause for concern, not only in shark fin soup, but also in dietary supplements and other forms ingested by humans," study co-author Deborah Mash, who directs the University of Miami Brain Endowment Bank, said in a statement.

The researchers tested seven species of shark for the study: blacknose, blacktip, bonnethead, bull, great hammerhead, lemon and nurse sharks. The scientists clipped tiny fin samples off of living animals so as not to harm their subjects.

1. More science news from msnbc.com

   1. What's living?on your smartphone?

      Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: Your cell phone and your shoes have entire communities of microbes living on them, as distinctive as the germs on your fingers and in your mouth.

   2. Traders aim to profit from the Oscars online
   3. Here they are: Winners of the Animal Oscars!
   4. No (shark fin) soup for you! It may be harmful

Reporting in the journal Marine Drugs, the authors found BMAA concentrations ranging from 144 to 1,838 nanograms per milligram. According to Mash, those levels are similar to the levels found in the brains of Alzheimer's and Lou Gehrig's disease patients.? Earlier research has linked the eating of BMAA-rich fruit bats in Guam with degenerative brain diseases, suggesting that consuming the toxin could affect human health.

The researchers hope the findings will help discourage the practice of shark-finning, in which the fins of as many as 70 million sharks a year are sliced off and the sharks are dumped back into the ocean to die.

"Not only does this work provide important information on one probable route of human exposure to BMAA, it may lead to a lowering of the demand for shark fin soup and consumption of shark products, which will aid ocean conservation efforts,? said study co-author Neil Hammerschlag, a University of Miami professor of marine affairs and policy.

You can follow LiveScience senior writer Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience and on Facebook.

? 2012 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46515075/ns/technology_and_science-science/

olin kreutz au pair au pair trinidad trinidad jeff bezos chattanooga