Amatoxins are mushroom toxins that injure the liver. A StatPearls review lists species that carry them, including Amanita bisporigera, Amanita virosa, Galerina and Conocybe filaris, and links the death cap to the most fatalities (Horowitz and Moss). A Canadian emergency-medicine article describes the illness in phases, with the first starting 6 to 24 hours after eating (Fenwick).
The toxins are not limited to large Amanitas. Some Galerina contain amatoxins at levels equal to the death cap, and a study found them in all 24 Galerina marginata-complex samples tested from western British Columbia (Landry et al.). In a North American registry of acute liver failure, 18 of 2,224 patients enrolled from 1998 to 2014 had amatoxin poisoning, and some needed a liver transplant (Karvellas et al.).
HealthLinkBC says there is no known antidote and that cooking, drying or freezing does not inactivate the toxin (HealthLinkBC). The delay is why the Ontario Poison Centre says not to wait for symptoms after a wild mushroom is eaten (Ontario Poison Centre); its line is 1-800-268-9017 (Ontario Poison Centre).
General information, not medical advice. In an emergency in Canada, call 911. For a mental-health crisis, call or text 9-8-8.
Sources
- Horowitz and Moss: Amatoxin mushroom toxicity (StatPearls)
- Landry et al.: Deadly amatoxins among the little brown mushrooms of the genus Galerina
- HealthLinkBC: Death cap mushrooms (Amanita phalloides)
- Karvellas et al.: Acute liver injury and acute liver failure from mushroom poisoning in North America
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