# is it possible to be allergic to Brine Shrimp?



## bettaforu

Its a dumb question, but I am wondering if I am allergic to live Brine Shrimp 

Ive been hatching them for the past couple of days, and noticed that 
I sneeze a lot when I am in the room near them....if I can remember this
happened before when I had my Angelfish babies and was hatching live
brine shrimp then too.

Could I be allergic to them.....anyone else have this problem?
or is it my imagination?


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## Ryan.Wilton

It's fully possible. I have a bad reaction to bloodworms if I touch them directly live, frozen or freeze dried, so why not shrimp.


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## eatmysox

I know ofmany people allergic to bloodworms. I personally can't handle mysis shrimp without my hands getting insanely itchy


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## BillD

The dried cysts are a source of many things that aren't particularly healthy. I do recall a speaker at the club saying that lab tests indicated that the cysts were pretty much a toxic substance. there is a tremendous amount of bacteria in the cysts as evidenced by the smell of the water if you hatch whole cysts. this is one of the reasons I decapsulate with bleach.


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## TorontoBoy

Shellfish, including shrimp, is a very common allergen, ranking 6th of 9 most common food allergies. My kid used to be allergic to shrimp but grew out of it.

Take an antihistamine such as Benadryl. Tree and pollen allergens are prevalent right now, so it might be something else. If you stop using shrimp, keep everything the same and your symptoms go away then you know, no shrimp.


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## xriddler

i dont think its the shrimp. you have been in the shrimping world for awhile right? with crs etc. if you are allergic to brine shrimp don't you think crs and other shrimp would have been causing you the same problems all a long too? its probably something else


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## Ciddian

while I was dealing with bettas for a while I became allergic to bloodworms myself. It has taken a long time to have the allergy go away.

I wouldn't doubt you being allergic


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## Fishfur

Allergy or sensitivity, I would not think it impossible. Though I would wonder if the reaction is to the shrimp or to the cysts or eggs instead. Since the shrimp are in water, it seems unlikely they'd cause a problem, but whatever might come with the dry eggs could easily be the source of allergens.

Only way to know for sure is eliminate the shrimp and see if symptoms go away.. then try them again and see if symptoms return. But try to avoid exposure to the eggs, as I'd think they are a much more likely culprit than hatched brine shrimp, unless you are handling those with bare hands. 

To avoid exposure to the eggs, you might try wearing a good quality, very fine particulate filter mask when handling the eggs, just in case that's the issue, and disposable gloves as well. Can't hurt, might solve the problem.


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## TorontoBoy

Fishfur said:


> ...To avoid exposure to the eggs, you might try wearing a good quality, very fine particulate filter mask when handling the eggs, just in case that's the issue, and disposable gloves as well. Can't hurt, might solve the problem.


I was thinking the same. Get to a drug store and ask for N95 masks. These will filter out 95% of very fine organic particulate in the air and are used in medical environments. Along with nitrile or vinyl disposable gloves you might want to air out the room as well.


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## bettaforu

Thanks guys/gals....unfortunately I already have this nasty cold/cough that's going around right now so its hard to tell if its the cysts themselves
that I am allergic too....going to stop the hatching today.


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