Even though ballast water regulations are in place to protect against potentially invasive species, there exists a loophole for organisms in the 10–50 micron size class. For organisms between 10 and 50 microns, such as certain types of phytoplankton, current regulations allow less than 10 cells per milliliter be present in discharge from treatment systems. The discharge gets released when a ship takes on cargo at a port so the discharged water is not necessarily the same as the receiving body of water. Since many species of phytoplankton are less than 10 microns in size and reproduce asexually, only one cell released into the environment could exponentially grow into many thousands of cells over a short amount of time. This loophole could have detrimental effects to the environment. For example, some species in the genus "Pseudo-nitzschia" are smaller than 10 microns in width and contain domoic acid, a neurotoxin. If toxic "Pseudo-nitzschia" spp. are alive in ballast discharge and get released into their “new environment” they could cause domoic acid poisoning in shellfish, marine mammals and birds. Fortunately, human deaths related to domoic acid poisoning have been prevented because of stringent monitoring programs that arose after a domoic acid outbreak in Canada in 1987. Ballast water regulations need to be more rigorous to prevent future ramifications associated with the potential release of toxic and invasive phytoplankton.