Validation of questionnaire-based long-term dietary exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls using biomarkers

Domoic acid (DA) is a marine-based neurotoxin that, if ingested via tainted shellfish, is associated with Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning (ASP). These acute effects of elevated DA exposure in humans have been well described. In contrast, the long-term impacts of lower level, repetitive, presumably safe doses of DA (less than 20 ppm) are minimally known. Since Native Americans (NA) residing in coastal communities of the Pacific NW United States are particularly vulnerable to DA exposure, this study focuses on the long-term, 8-year memory outcome associated with their repeated dietary consumption of the neurotoxin. Measures of razor clam consumption, memory, clerical speed and accuracy, and depression were administered over eight years to 500 randomly selected adult NA men and women ages 18–64. Data were analyzed using GEE analyses taking into consideration the year of study, demographic factors, and instrumentation in examining the association between dietary exposure and outcomes. Findings indicated a significant but small decline in total recall memory within the context of otherwise stable clerical speed and accuracy and depression scores. There is reason to believe that a continuum of memory difficulties may be associated with DA exposure, rather than a unitary ASP syndrome.

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Long-Term Temporal Trends of Polychlorinated Biphenyls and Their Controlling Sources in China

Environmental Science & Technology ◽

10.1021/acs.est.6b05341 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 51 (5) ◽

pp. 2838-2845 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Shizhen Zhao ◽

Knut Breivik ◽

Guorui Liu ◽

Minghui Zheng ◽

Kevin C. Jones ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Polychlorinated Biphenyls ◽

Temporal Trends

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Aluminum accumulation and neurotoxicity in Swiss-Webster mice after long-term dietary exposure to aluminum and citrate

Metabolism ◽

10.1016/0026-0495(93)90128-b ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 42 (10) ◽

pp. 1296-1300 ◽

Cited By ~ 42

Author(s):

Patricia I. Oteiza ◽

Carl L. Keen ◽

Bin Han ◽

Mari S. Golub

Keyword(s):

Dietary Exposure ◽

Aluminum Accumulation

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Excretion of Heavy Metals and Glyphosate in Urine and Hair Before and After Long-Term Fasting in Humans

Frontiers in Nutrition ◽

10.3389/fnut.2021.708069 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

Author(s):

Franziska Grundler ◽

Gilles-Eric Séralini ◽

Robin Mesnage ◽

Vincent Peynet ◽

Françoise Wilhelmi de Toledo

Keyword(s):

Heavy Metals ◽

Environmental Pollutants ◽

Dietary Exposure ◽

The Body ◽

Health Concern ◽

Obese People ◽

Clinical Trial Registration ◽

Reduced Body ◽

Before And After

Background: Dietary exposure to environmental pollutants in humans is an important public health concern. While long-term fasting interrupts the dietary exposure to these substances, fat mobilization as an energy source may also release bioaccumulated substances. This was, to our knowledge, only investigated in obese people decades ago. This study explored the effects of 10-days fasting on the excretion of heavy metals and glyphosate.Methods: Urinary levels of arsenic, chromium, cobalt, lead, nickel, mercury and glyphosate were measured before and after 10 fasting days in 109 healthy subjects. Additionally, hair analysis was done before and ten weeks after fasting in 22 subjects.Results: Fasting caused a decrease in body weight, and in urinary arsenic (by 72%) and nickel (by 15%) concentrations. A decrease in lead hair concentrations (by 30%) was documented. Urinary mercury levels were unchanged for chromium, cobalt and glyphosate, which were undetectable in most of the subjects. Additionally, fatigue, sleep disorders, headache and hunger were reduced. Body discomfort symptoms diminished four weeks after food reintroduction.Conclusions: The results of this study provide the first insights into the changes in heavy metal excretion caused by long-term fasting. Further studies focusing on the kinetics of efflux between different compartments of the body are needed.Clinical Trial Registration:https://www.drks.de/drks_web/navigate.do?navigationId=trial.HTML&TRIAL_ID=DRKS00016657, identifier: DRKS00016657.

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Free-range eggs from a very polluted site in central Italy: levels of Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-Dioxins/Furans and Polychlorinated Biphenyls and estimated human dietary exposure

Journal of Food Protection ◽

10.4315/jfp-21-126 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Federica Castellani ◽

Lamberto Manzoli ◽

Cecilia Acuti Martellucci ◽

Maria Elena Flacco ◽

Maria Luisa Astolfi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Polychlorinated Biphenyls ◽

Central Italy ◽

Dietary Exposure ◽

Contamination Level ◽

Free Range ◽

Weekly Intake ◽

Tolerable Weekly Intake ◽

Commission Regulation ◽

Contamination Levels ◽

A Site

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the contamination levels of some classes of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in free-range hen eggs and to estimate the related human dietary exposure in a Site of National Interest (SNI), characterized by a serious state of environmental pollution (Bussi sul Tirino area, central Italy). For these purposes, 17 samples of free-range hen eggs collected in home-producing farms located in the SNI territory were analyzed for 17 polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), 12 dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dl-PCBs) and 6 non-dioxin-like PCBs (ndl-PCBs). Dietary exposure was assessed assuming a standard consumption of eggs per week. The concentration of ∑PCDD/Fs + dl-PCBs ranged from 0.463 to 8.028 pg TEQ (Toxic Equivalent) g−1 fat, while the mean contamination level of the ∑ndl-PCBs ranged from 0.234 to 7.741 ng TEQ g−1 fat. PCDD/Fs and PCBs contamination levels were lower than maximum values established by the Commission Regulation (EU) 1259/2011, except for one sample. The estimated weekly intake (EWI), calculated in order to evaluate the contribution in terms of the monitored pollutants of the locally produced eggs to the diet, was lower than the tolerable weekly intake (TWI) established by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

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Immunohistochemical Review of Leydig Cell Lesions in Ochratoxin A-Treated Fischer Rats and Controls

Toxins ◽

10.3390/toxins11080480 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (8) ◽

pp. 480 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Diana Herman ◽

Peter Mantle

Keyword(s):

Testicular Cancer ◽

Ochratoxin A ◽

Leydig Cell ◽

Dietary Exposure ◽

Male Rats ◽

Testicular Hypertrophy ◽

Cellular Pathology ◽

Rats And Mice ◽

First Time

Ochratoxin A is best known as a potent renal carcinogen in male rats and mice after necessarily protracted ingestion, although valid extrapolation to any human disease has not been verified. The hypothesis that the toxin is a cause of human testicular cancer was proposed a decade ago and has proliferated since, partly through incomplete study of the scientific literature. Archived tumorous rat testes were available from Fischer F344 rats exposed to continuous dietary exposure for half of or the whole life in London in the 2000s. Renal cancer occurred in some of these cases and testicular tumours were observed frequently, as expected, in both treated and untreated animals. Application of clinical immunohistochemistry has for the first time consistently diagnosed the testicular hypertrophy in toxin-treated rats as Leydig cell tumours. Comparison is made with similar analysis of tumorous testes from control (untreated) rats from U.S. National Toxicology Program studies, both of ochratoxin A (1989) and the more recent one on Ginkgo biloba. All have been found to have identical pathology as being of sex cord-stromal origin. Such are rare in humans, most being of germinal cell origin. The absence of experimental evidence of any specific rat testicular cellular pathology attributable to long-term dietary ochratoxin A exposure discredits any experimental animal evidence of testicular tumorigenicity. Thus, no epidemiological connection between ochratoxin A and the incidence of human testicular cancer can be justified scientifically.

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