1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,400 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:10,680 Speaker 1: brain Stuff. Lauren Vogelbaum here, first off, out of an 3 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: abundance of caution, if you're listening to this podcast episode 4 00:00:13,640 --> 00:00:16,320 Speaker 1: because you suspect that you have ingested a deathcap mushroom 5 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:19,400 Speaker 1: or any poisonous mushroom and you're in the United States, 6 00:00:19,680 --> 00:00:22,840 Speaker 1: called the American Association of Poison Control Centers toll free 7 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:26,640 Speaker 1: twenty four hour hotline at two to two one to 8 00:00:26,840 --> 00:00:30,440 Speaker 1: to two immediately. If you live outside of the United States, 9 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:36,320 Speaker 1: contact your local poison control center in your region or country. Okay, okay, 10 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:41,600 Speaker 1: I say this because these mushrooms are serious. Following a 11 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:45,800 Speaker 1: mushroom bloom in the San Francisco Bay area in late fourteen, 12 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:50,400 Speaker 1: people consumed this poisonous fungus and fell drastically ill. One 13 00:00:50,479 --> 00:00:54,680 Speaker 1: child even experienced permanent neurological damage. And these were just 14 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:56,960 Speaker 1: some of the latest in a string of poisonings over 15 00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:00,280 Speaker 1: the last few decades, a small handful of which proved 16 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:04,760 Speaker 1: to be fatal. The toxic cause Amanita pholoids, better known 17 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:08,920 Speaker 1: by its grim moniker, the deathcap mushroom. The death cap 18 00:01:08,959 --> 00:01:11,600 Speaker 1: mushroom is what's known in the world of mycology as 19 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:15,080 Speaker 1: a mutualist. This means that it grows in tandem with 20 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:18,360 Speaker 1: a host to the benefit of both. The host. In 21 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:20,920 Speaker 1: the case of this mushroom is one of several types 22 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:24,120 Speaker 1: of trees. The fungus grows in the soil and mingles 23 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:26,880 Speaker 1: with the tree's roots, drawing out nitrogen from the soil 24 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:29,280 Speaker 1: and bringing it to the tree in exchange for carbon. 25 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:33,959 Speaker 1: In California, where the death cap mushroom is fairly common, 26 00:01:34,319 --> 00:01:38,040 Speaker 1: possibly due to its pleasant Mediterranean climate, the fungus normally 27 00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:42,080 Speaker 1: grows in tandem with coast live oak. On the east coast, 28 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:45,920 Speaker 1: the fungus usually attaches to pine, and in the fungus's 29 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:50,200 Speaker 1: native Europe, it's a combination of beech and oak. For 30 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 1: the article, this episode is based on hows to work 31 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:55,920 Speaker 1: spoke with Anne Pringle, the Letters and Science Rubinstein, Professor 32 00:01:56,000 --> 00:02:00,280 Speaker 1: of Botany and Bacteriology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. A. 33 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:04,880 Speaker 1: Pringle's research confirms what other mycologists have theorized. Amanita floids 34 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:07,800 Speaker 1: is a non native species that was introduced to California 35 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:12,040 Speaker 1: from Europe in the not too distant past. If this 36 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:15,480 Speaker 1: mushroom was native to California, it would be genetically different 37 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:19,120 Speaker 1: from the European variety. About the California death cap is 38 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:23,760 Speaker 1: genetically interrelated to the European one, ergo, the fungus is 39 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:26,839 Speaker 1: one and the same. Pringle said that the first known 40 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:29,560 Speaker 1: sightings in California were at the Del Monte Hotel in 41 00:02:29,639 --> 00:02:32,920 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty eight and on the University of California Berkeley 42 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:38,120 Speaker 1: campus in nineteen forty five. So how on earth did 43 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:41,400 Speaker 1: the death cap get to California. One common theory is 44 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:44,480 Speaker 1: that people from Europe transported cork oak from Europe to 45 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:48,079 Speaker 1: California to plant the tree locally, and that's how emanated 46 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:51,000 Speaker 1: Floyd is growing on the cork oaks roots may have 47 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:54,280 Speaker 1: reached North America. It's a good theory, though no one 48 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:58,640 Speaker 1: has found hard evidence to support it yet. While the 49 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:01,960 Speaker 1: death cap is considered an of species in California, that's 50 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 1: not necessarily the case on the East Coast. It's partly 51 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:08,280 Speaker 1: due to a difference inhabitat. On the East Coast, you'll 52 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:11,640 Speaker 1: find it more often in contained urban settings like parks, 53 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:14,520 Speaker 1: where someone may have planted a tree that hosts the 54 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:18,280 Speaker 1: death cap, But in California, the fungus is growing in 55 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:21,480 Speaker 1: forested areas, like the Point Raise National Seashore in the 56 00:03:21,560 --> 00:03:25,040 Speaker 1: Greater San Francisco Bay Area. The fungus is spreading up 57 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:28,800 Speaker 1: the West coast in British Columbia too. Some scientists like 58 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:32,160 Speaker 1: Pringle are interested in managing the spread of invasive fungi 59 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:35,480 Speaker 1: like the death cap. Pringle's team has mapped nearly a 60 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:39,480 Speaker 1: hundred genomes of floids, so it's possible that future research 61 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:44,600 Speaker 1: could help curb the mushroom's deadly reach. So what happens 62 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:49,000 Speaker 1: if you do accidentally ingest a deathcap mushroom? How stuff Works? 63 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:52,160 Speaker 1: Also spoke with Race Fuora, medical director for the Fresno 64 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:56,680 Speaker 1: Madera Division of the California Poison Control System. He explained 65 00:03:56,720 --> 00:04:00,480 Speaker 1: that the fungus contains a couple of toxins, including foula toxin, 66 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:05,360 Speaker 1: which quote causes severe nausea, vomiting, and dehydration with resulting 67 00:04:05,440 --> 00:04:10,120 Speaker 1: kidney damage and electrolyte imbalances. But the kicker is the 68 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:14,200 Speaker 1: alpha A mantin or amatoxin, which prevents certain cells from 69 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:18,080 Speaker 1: making important proteins and other cellular components. It does its 70 00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:21,640 Speaker 1: work in the liver. The previous victims have required emergency 71 00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:26,599 Speaker 1: liver transplants. The poisoning is spread out over three phases, 72 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:28,800 Speaker 1: and it can take several hours for symptoms of the 73 00:04:28,839 --> 00:04:32,360 Speaker 1: death caps toxins to present in the body. Phase one 74 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:35,720 Speaker 1: is nausea and vomiting. In phase two, the nausea and 75 00:04:35,839 --> 00:04:39,799 Speaker 1: vomiting might cease, but liver damage progresses in a dramatic fashion. 76 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:44,400 Speaker 1: In phase three, advanced liver failure, seizures, loss of blood pressure, 77 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:48,360 Speaker 1: brain swelling, and comas can occur, and in the worst 78 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:53,920 Speaker 1: case scenario, death. So the number one takeaway here do 79 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:57,080 Speaker 1: not consume the death cap in any form. In fact, 80 00:04:57,160 --> 00:04:59,920 Speaker 1: unless you're extremely familiar with the fungi in your air, 81 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:03,760 Speaker 1: Pringle urges that you hold off on wild mushroom foraging, 82 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:06,440 Speaker 1: as it can be really tricky to identify and separate 83 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:10,240 Speaker 1: poisonous mushrooms from safe ones. If you spot a mushroom 84 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:13,000 Speaker 1: that you suspect maybe a deathcap and want help verifying 85 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:16,479 Speaker 1: its identity, Pringle suggests heading over to mushroom observer dot 86 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:20,400 Speaker 1: org to seek guidance. A touching a deathcap should be fine, 87 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:24,799 Speaker 1: since there's no evidence that the toxins transmit through skin contact. However, 88 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:28,279 Speaker 1: Pringle advises that you wash your hands after handling any 89 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:32,480 Speaker 1: sort of mushroom, but although they do cause the majority 90 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:36,839 Speaker 1: of mushroom related fatalities globally, deathcap poisonings are still pretty 91 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:40,600 Speaker 1: rare in the United States. Moreover, Vora says that the 92 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:42,880 Speaker 1: fatality rate is believed to be in the range of 93 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:46,560 Speaker 1: ten to fifteen percent of cases. That's nothing disneeze at, 94 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:55,440 Speaker 1: but it's not an automatic death sentence either. Today's episode 95 00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:58,280 Speaker 1: is based on the article Poisonous deathcap mushroom spreads over 96 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:00,920 Speaker 1: North America on house toffworks dot com, written by Terry 97 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:03,680 Speaker 1: yr Lagata. Brain Stuff is production of I Heart Radio 98 00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:06,000 Speaker 1: in partnership with how stuffworks dot Com and is produced 99 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:08,799 Speaker 1: by Tyler Klain. For more podcasts from My heart Radio, 100 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:11,599 Speaker 1: visit the heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 101 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:12,839 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.