Even at low levels, below legal limits, mycotoxins can have negative impacts on animal health.
The diagram below shows that different species are affected differently by mycotoxins. That is where SmartShieldCA comes into its own, having been formulated to target those mycotoxins that impact pet health the most.
SmartShieldCA offers three methods of deactivating mycotoxins. The mycotoxin will determine which method is most effective, but pH and transit time through the digestive system of the host animal play an important role too.
For pets, SmartShieldCA contains a blend of five minerals which adsorb polar mycotoxins and derivatives, combined with two types of specifically treated MOS to bind non-polar mycotoxins.
Together, SmartShieldCA delivers a blend of highly adsorbent materials to bind a wide range of mycotoxins and their derivatives to render them harmless to the animal.
Deoxynivalenol (DON) does not bind at all, and its molecule needs active restructuring for deactivation and disposal.
Transformation of mycotoxin molecules is done through a single cut or inserting a bond at molecular level. This creates a new molecular shape that as a result becomes bindable, whereas the parent molecule was not. This is the case for Deoxynivalenol and T2, where a single transformation renders the mycotoxin inactive.
A single transformation is not sufficient for some mycotoxins and those molecules need degrading instead. Degradation is the process of cutting the mycotoxin molecule by more than one single cut. This happens with zearalenone, which is partially bindable by MOS, but not enough to reduce its toxicity. Degradation makes zearalenone 100% bindable by the binders in SmartShieldCA.
The molecule is progressively cut to the carbon skeleton that can either be utilised by gut bacteria or can go into the carbon cycle of the host animal and be used for anything else that has a carbon skeleton, such as an amino acid or sugar.