[Mycology] Cortinarius bellus toxicity ?

[Mycos]

Hi,
My name is Gary Williams. I am a consultant for BC (British Columbia, 
Canada) Drug and Poison Control, with a special interest in mycology.

Your concern over C. bellus, although justified in regards to it 
belonging to a family/genus containing several species with the  toxin 
"orellanine", C. bellus is not one that comes to mind in this regard. 
But since we are on opposite sides of the planet, I considered that may 
be simply due to a case of "Out of site, out of mind".

So I checked the internet for known Corts containing 
orellanine."Cortinarius orellanus" + orellanine brought back 436 hits. 
Similarly, C. gentilis brought back 56 matches. C. bellus brings back 0. 
Nothing.

Now, I realize this isn't the most scientific method of going about 
determining the presence of a toxin, but all in all, I would consider it 
enough that you can tell your friend to relax on the matter. My only 
concern now would be whether it was a positive ID and/or whether the 
species has been previously assayed for the presence of orellanine. In 
any case, familiarize yourself with the symptoms of orellanine 
poisoning, and if  anything resembling these begin to manifest 
themselves, please seek medical treatment. Be sure to tell the attending 
physician that the name of the suspected toxin is ORELLANINE.


G~


2tone wrote:
> Hello my mycological friends ,
>
> A friend believe he has consumed two small Cortinarius bellus mushroom
> caps approximately one week ago .
>
> I have searched and found reference to other specific varieties of
> Cortinarius that are highly toxic , but can find no specific mention
> of the bellus variety with regard to toxicity .
>
> Can anyone forward me to information regarding toxicity information
> regarding Cortinarius Bellus?
>
> Or advise as to what the person should do , ie. should they report to
> the poison centre of the hospital for testing ?
>
> We can find little specific information pertaining to this "bellus"
> variety and some specific guidance on this matter would be most
> helpful .
>
>
> Regards
>
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