suspected that aerial spraying of pesticides was responsible for the bird kill. Upon autopsy, however, it was found that the ducks and gulls had recently eaten clams. An extract from the clams was injected into mice, and the mice died soon after.

About the same time, a marine biologist from the University of Massachusetts observed a reddishbrown discoloration in the water along the north shore. It was identified as a "bloom," or population explosion, of Gonyaulax tamarensis, a one-celled organism with a whip-like tail for swimming that

belongs to a class of microscopic sea creatures known as dinoflagellates. These organisms produce a powerful neurotoxin that, when eaten in food, causes paralytic shellfish poisoning. When conditions are just right, they multiply in tremendous numbers, imparting a reddish color to the water. The term "red tide" is sometimes used to describe this phenomenon, but most red tides are caused by other dinoflagellates.

G. tamarensis was pinpointed as the agent responsible for the bird kill. The clams had accumulated the poison as they filtered seawater for

Seen from the air, the "red tide," a bloom of a tiny marine organism, closes in on a stretch of New England shoreline.

food, and the birds had died from eating the clams. At the same time, similar blooms were spotted on the New Hampshire and Maine coasts.

Swift action was necessary because the toxin produced by G. tamarensis is a deadly poison. A fraction of a drop can kill a man. Historically, there is a 20 percent fatality rate in documented cases of paralytic shellfish poisoning. The danger is compounded because it is almost impossible to distinguish between a toxic shellfish and a healthy one, because the heat of cooking does not destroy the toxin, and because there is no known antidote.

Health officials are well aware of the dangers. Cases of paralytic shellfish poisoning were recorded as early as 1793 in Vancouver, British Columbia, and the affliction has been recognized as a clinical entity for more than 100 years. A mild PSP outbreak had occurred in Massachusetts in 1958, when a G. tamarensis bloom apparently traveled down the coast from Canada.

So when the new outbreak was reported last September 14, Massachusetts officials wasted no time. Governor Francis W. Sargent declared a public health emergency. All areas north of Manchester were closed to clam, mussel, and scallop harvesting. (Fin fish, lobsters, and shrimp do not accumulate the poison.) FDA was called in immediately because much of the shellfish is shipped interstate. On Friday, September 15, State and FDA regional officials met in the office of the Massachusetts public health commissioner, Dr. William J. Bicknell. Top priority was given to removing all contaminated shellfish from the marketplace; that afternoon Dr. Bicknell embargoed all hard- and soft-shell clams and scallops. The embargo later was lifted for hard-shell clams, because laboratory tests revealed no toxin, and for scallops, which had been harvested before the bloom.

Starting that night and working through the weekend, FDA Microbiologist Gerald F. Kuester worked in the State food and drug labora

The next day, Saturday, FDA contacted all the New England States. Massachusetts closed the entire State to shellfish harvesting after identifying G. tamarensis in the waters as far south as Cape Cod. New Hampshire banned the purchase and sale of all shellfish and reported finding high levels of toxin in soft-shell clams. Maine closed its coastline from Cape Elizabeth to the Maine-New Hampshire border.

On Sunday, FDA assisted Massachusetts food and drug inspectors in visiting retail establishments to determine compliance with the ban. The entire State of Maine was closed to shellfish harvesting, and Maine banned the importation and sale of all hard- and soft-shell clams and mussels. Connecticut and Vermont banned the sale and purchase of clams, and Rhode Island banned the sale and purchase of clams from Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire.

Beginning Monday, FDA's Region I used every available inspector to track down potentially contaminated shellfish shipped from Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. Additional inspectors were supplied to Region I by other FDA Districts throughout the country. They determined where every shipment of bivalve shellfish had gone from the affected States since September 4.

Simultaneously, on the recommendation of Region I to the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, a Class I recall was instituted. A Class I recall involves an emergency removal of products from the market, right down to the consumer level.

At the same time, a news release was issued warning consumers not to eat potentially affected shellfish until further notice.

As soon as they were contacted by FDA and State officials, several hundred shippers of suspect shellfish in Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire stopped distribution and immediately contacted customers by telephone. Another 2,200

inspectors. By September 28, 10 days after the recall was started, all shipments had been accounted for and all customers contacted.

FDA found that potentially contaminated shellfish had been shipped to 48 States, Puerto Rico, and Canada. In addition to the shellfish recovered or destroyed by State authorities, FDA itself collected 1,917 gallons of shucked soft-shell clams, 1,942 bushels of soft clams in the shell, 12 bushels of hard clams in the shell, and 25 gallons of clam chowder.

All the effort paid off. Only 34 cases of PSP were reported in New England and another three suspected cases were reported in another part of the country. No deaths occurred.

At the present time, about 50 miles of the Maine coastline between Biddeford and the New Hampshire line remains closed to shellfish harvesting. In Massachusetts, another 50 miles from the New Hampshire line to Gloucester are closed.

This episode of paralytic shellfish poisoning is almost over, but the effects are still being felt by the New England fish industry, already hurt by depletion of major fish species and the mercury problem. Financial assistance was made available to small clamming industries through the Small Business Administration. And a bill to provide relief to the ailing New England fishing industry has been introduced in Congress by Senator Edward Kennedy and House Majority Leader Thomas O'Neill, Jr., both of Massachusetts. The clamming industry is recovering.

Blooms of G. tamarensis are natural events that no one can prevent. But alert public officials can prevent shellfish contaminated with the deadly neurotoxin from reaching the consumer and thus avert what otherwise would be a periodic public health disaster.

Yolan L. Harsanyi is a consumer specialist in the Boston Field Office.

Vitamin E is being sold in unprecedented amounts. Here we examine the validity of claims being made for it.

It will help you grow hair. Cure

your skin problems. Ease your arthritis pain. Prevent ulcers. Make

you sexually young.

These are just a smattering of the claims being made for vitamin E, whose sales in recent years have soared.

Why all the sudden popularity? Has something new been discovered about vitamin E?

Far from it. The presence of vitamin E in foods has been known for decades. And it is necessary in the diet.

But there is no scientific evidence that vitamin E will do any of the dramatic things that are being claimed for it, or that large supplements are needed for the treatment of disease.

Vitamin E is a chemical in the alcohol family that is soluble in fat. Its chief function is as an antioxidant. An antioxidant inhibits the combination of a substance with oxygen, and thus acts as a preservative.

The amount of vitamin E needed by most people appears to be satisfied by the average, well-balanced diet, even though some vitamin E is lost in food processing. Many common foods contain some vitamin E, and it is present in large quantities in leafy vegetables, whole grain foods, and vegetable oils.

So far it has not been possible to specify exactly how much vitamin E humans need, because deficiencies do not produce any recognizable clinical symptoms.

The Recommended Dietary Allowance of vitamin E-the amount a person needs to stay healthy-is based on the usual daily intake, plus