scholarly journals Risk assessment of Portuguese population to multiple mycotoxins: the human biomonitoring approach

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
C Martins ◽  
A Vidal ◽  
S De Saeger ◽  
C Nunes ◽  
D Torres ◽  
...  

Abstract Mycotoxins constitute a relevant group of food contaminants with several associated health outcomes such as estrogenic, immunotoxic, nephrotoxic and teratogenic effects. Although scarce data are available in Portugal, human biomonitoring studies have been globally developed to assess the exposure to mycotoxins at individual level. The present study concerned the analysis of mycotoxins in 24h urine and first-morning urine paired samples from 94 participants enrolled within the scope of the National Food, Nutrition, and Physical Activity Survey of the Portuguese General Population (2015-2016). Following a salt-assisted matrix extraction, urine samples were analyzed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry for the simultaneous determination of 37 urinary mycotoxins’ biomarkers and data obtained used to estimate the probable daily intake as well as the risk characterization applying the Hazard Quotient approach. Results revealed the exposure of Portuguese population to zearalenone, deoxynivalenol, ochratoxin A, alternariol, citrinin and fumonisin B1 through the quantification in 24h urine and first-morning urine paired samples. Risk characterization data revealed a potential concern to some reported mycotoxins since the reference intake values were exceeded by some of the considered participants. Alternariol was identified for the first time in urine samples from a European country; however, risk characterization was not performed due to lack of reference intake value. The present study contributed with reliable and evidence-based results, and confirmed that mycotoxins represent a burden and are part of the human exposome of the Portuguese population. Further studies are needed to shed a light on the determinants of exposure in order to contribute for the promotion of public health measures to reduce the mycotoxins’ exposure in Portugal. Key messages Portuguese population is exposed to mycotoxins, chemical food contaminants that may be harmful (carcinogenic, immunotoxic, mutagenic, teratogenic, hepatotoxic) for human health. Human biomonitoring studies provide realistic data on internal exposure at individual level, allowing a more accurate knowledge of the determinants of exposure to these contaminants.

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
C Martins ◽  
A Vidal ◽  
M De Boevre ◽  
S De Saeger ◽  
C Nunes ◽  
...  

Abstract Human biomonitoring (HBM) is recognized as an important tool to assess the Human exposure to chemicals, contributing to describe trends and patterns of exposure over time and to identify population groups that could be under risk. Natural chemicals as mycotoxins, fungi metabolites that produce toxic effects in humans, are important compounds that could be found in foods usually consumed worldwide in a daily basis. Mycotoxins as aflatoxins (AFTs) are genotoxic, carcinogenic and immunosuppressive compounds. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of their main health toxic effects and is the third leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. In Portugal, scarce data are available regarding exposure to AFTs and none previous study used HBM data to characterize comprehensively the burden associated to this exposure. In the scope of the National Food, Nutrition, and Physical Activity Survey of the Portuguese General Population (2015-2016), 24h-urine samples from 94 participants were analyzed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for the simultaneous determination of AFTs (B1, B2, G1, G2, M1). A model was developed to estimate the health impact of the exposure of Portuguese population to aflatoxins, estimating the number of cases of HCC and DALYs attributed to AFTs exposure. AFTs were detected in 12.8% (AFB1), 16.0% (AFB2) and 19.1% (AFM1) of the 24h-urine samples. The estimated number of extra cases of HCC attributed to this exposure ranged from 17 to 65 cases/year; the associated DALYs for the Portuguese population ranged from 284 to 1802 years. The present study generated, for the first time and within a HBM study, reliable data regarding the exposure of the Portuguese population to AFTs. These data were crucial to characterize the health impact associated to AFTs exposure and to support risk managers to establish preventive policy measures that contribute to ensure the public health protection. Key messages Portuguese population is exposed to aflatoxins, chemical food contaminants that may be harmful (carcinogenic, immunotoxic, mutagenic, teratogenic, hepatotoxic) to humans. Human biomonitoring studies provide realistic data on internal exposure at individual level, contributing to a more accurate estimation of the burden derived from this exposure.


Author(s):  
Maryam Zare Jeddi ◽  
Mohamad Eshaghi Gorji ◽  
Ivonne Rietjens ◽  
Jochem Louisse ◽  
Yuri Bruinen de Bruin ◽  
...  

This study aimed to estimate the exposure and related health risks of phthalates, and to assess the health risks from combined exposure to three of the phthalates sharing the same mode of action (anti-androgenicity) in children. We determined the internal exposure of 56 Iranian children and adolescents aged 6 to 18 years by analyzing seven urinary metabolites of five phthalates. The estimated daily intake values derived from the biomonitoring data ranged from 0.01 µg/kg bw/day for butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP), to 17.85 µg/kg bw/day for di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP). The risk assessment revealed that not only the exposure to the individual phthalates, but also the combined exposure to the three anti-androgenic phthalates (DEHP, DBP, BBP) did not raise a safety concern (hazard index values averaged 0.2). The range of maximum cumulative ratio values varied from around 1 for most individuals to around 2 in some individuals, indicating that the combined exposures were dominated by one and in some cases by two of the three anti-androgenic phthalates, especially dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and/or DEHP. Based on biomonitoring data, the overall combined exposure of Iranian children to phthalates does not raise a concern, while reduction of exposure is best focused on DEHP and DBP that showed the highest hazard quotient.


Toxins ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla Martins ◽  
Duarte Torres ◽  
Carla Lopes ◽  
Daniela Correia ◽  
Ana Goios ◽  
...  

Zearalenone and alternariol are mycotoxins produced by Fusarium and Alternaria species, respectively, that present estrogenic activity and consequently are classified as endocrine disruptors. To estimate the exposure of the Portuguese population to these two mycotoxins at a national level, a modelling approach, based on data from 94 Portuguese volunteers, was developed considering as inputs: i) the food consumption data generated within the National Food and Physical Activity Survey; and ii) the human biomonitoring data used to assess the exposure to the referred mycotoxins. Six models of association between mycoestrogens urinary levels (zearalenone, total zearalenone and alternariol) and food items (meat, cheese, and fresh-cheese, breakfast cereals, sweets) were established. Applying the obtained models to the consumption data (n = 5811) of the general population, the median estimates of the probable daily intake revealed that a fraction of the Portuguese population might exceed the tolerable daily intake defined for zearalenone. A reference intake value for alternariol is still lacking, thus the characterization of risk due to the exposure to this mycotoxin was not possible to perform. Although the unavoidable uncertainties, these results are important contributions to understand the exposure to endocrine disruptors in Portugal and the potential Public Health consequences.


Toxins ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 42
Author(s):  
Noelia Pallarés ◽  
Dionisia Carballo ◽  
Emilia Ferrer ◽  
Yelko Rodríguez-Carrasco ◽  
Houda Berrada

Human biomonitoring constitutes a suitable tool to assess exposure to toxins overcoming the disadvantages of traditional methods. Urine constitutes an accessible biological matrix in biomonitoring studies. Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced naturally by filamentous fungi that produce a wide range of adverse health effects. Thus, the determination of urinary mycotoxin levels is a useful tool for assessing the individual exposure to these food contaminants. In this study, a suitable methodology has been developed to evaluate the presence of aflatoxin B2 (AFB2), aflatoxin (AFG2), ochratoxin A (OTA), ochratoxin B (OTB), zearalenone (ZEA), and α-zearalenol (α-ZOL) in urine samples as exposure biomarkers. For this purpose, different extraction procedures, namely, the Solid Phase Extraction (SPE); Dispersive Liquid–Liquid Microextraction (DLLME); and Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe (QuEChERS) methods were assessed, followed by Liquid Chromatography coupled to Quadrupole Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry with Electrospray Ionization (LC-ESI-QTOF-MS) determination. Then, the proposed methodology was applied to determine mycotoxin concentrations in 56 human urine samples from volunteers and to estimate the potential risk of exposure. The results obtained revealed that 55% of human urine samples analyzed resulted positive for at least one mycotoxin. Among all studied mycotoxins, only AFB2, AFG2, and OTB were detected with incidences of 32, 41, and 9%, respectively, and levels in the range from <LOQ to 69.42 µg/L. Risk assessment revealed a potential health risk, obtaining MoE values < 10,000. However, it should be highlighted that few samples were contaminated, and that more data about mycotoxin excretion rates and their BMDL10 values are needed for a more accurate risk assessment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 364-370
Author(s):  
Semaghiul Birghila ◽  
Mihaela Mirela Bratu ◽  
Valentina Coatu ◽  
Nicoleta-Alexandra Damir

The present study describes the analysis of nine organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) occurrence in twenty beer samples commercially marketed and widely consumed in Romania. Levels of these compounds were determined by gas chromatography with electron capture detector (GC-ECD). The results indicated that 20% of the examined samples were contaminated with one OCP residues, while 45% of samples have presented multiple pesticides. Among individual compounds, γ-HCH (Lindane) and p,p, DDE were the main contributors to the total OCP residues, suggesting a long-time persistence of these pesticides in soil, recent usage or uncontrolled penetration from some sources. The contamination frequency with the different OCPs of analysed samples was in the following order: DDTs]Driens]Heptachlor]Lindane]HCB. The average lifetime of a daily dose (LADD) for the total compounds under study, were below the acceptable daily intake (ADI) for individual compounds, ranging between 1.41E-07 and 3.13E-06 mg kg bw-1d-1. Also, hazard quotient were presented with very low values (HQ[1), suggesting that, in the analysed samples, the OCP residues represent no threat to human health.


2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 407-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura N. Vandenberg ◽  
Ibrahim Chahoud ◽  
Jerrold J Heindel ◽  
Vasantha Padmanabhan ◽  
Francisco J.R Paumgartten ◽  
...  

Bisphenol A (BPA) is one of the highest-volume chemicals produced worldwide, and human exposure to BPA is thought to be ubiquitous. Thus, there are concerns that the amount of BPA to which humans are exposed may cause adverse health effects. We examined many possibilities for why biomonitoring and toxicokinetic studies could come to seemingly conflicting conclusions. More than 80 published human biomonitoring studies that measured BPA concentrations in human tissues, urine, blood, and other fluids, along with two toxicokinetic studies of human BPA metabolism were examined. Unconjugated BPA was routinely detected in blood (in the nanograms per milliliter range), and conjugated BPA was routinely detected in the vast majority of urine samples (also in the nanograms per milliliter range). In stark contrast, toxicokinetic studies proposed that humans are not internally exposed to BPA. Available data from biomonitoring studies clearly indicate that the general population is exposed to BPA and is at risk from internal exposure to unconjugated BPA. The two toxicokinetic studies that suggested human BPA exposure is negligible have significant deficiencies, are directly contradicted by hypothesis-driven studies, and are therefore not reliable for risk assessment purposes.


Author(s):  
Jessica Schmidt ◽  
Viktoria Lindemann ◽  
Monica Olsen ◽  
Benedikt Cramer ◽  
Hans-Ulrich Humpf

AbstractA simple and effective approach for HPLC-MS/MS based multi-mycotoxin analysis in human urine samples was developed by application of dried urine spots (DUS) as alternative on-site sampling strategy. The newly developed method enables the detection and quantitation of 14 relevant mycotoxins and mycotoxin metabolites, including citrinin (CIT), dihydrocitrinone (DH-CIT), deoxynivalenol (DON), fumonisin B1 (FB1), T-2 Toxin (T-2), HT-2 Toxin (HT-2), ochratoxin A (OTA), 2′R-ochratoxin A (2′R-OTA), ochratoxin α (OTα), tenuazonic acid and allo-tenuazonic acid (TeA + allo-TeA), zearalenone (ZEN), zearalanone (ZAN), α-zearalenol (α-ZEL), and β-zearalenol (β-ZEL). Besides the spotting procedure, sample preparation includes enzymatic cleavage of glucuronic acid conjugates and stable isotope dilution analysis. Method validation revealed low limits of detection in the range of pg/mL urine and excellent apparent recovery rates for most analytes. Stability investigation of DUS displayed no or only slight decrease of the analyte concentration over a period of 28 days at room temperature. The new method was applied to the analysis of a set of urine samples (n = 91) from a Swedish cohort. The four analytes, DH-CIT, DON, OTA, and TeA + allo-TeA, could be detected and quantified in amounts ranging from 0.06 to 0.97 ng/mL, 3.03 to 136 ng/mL, 0.013 to 0.434 ng/mL and from 0.36 to 47 ng/mL in 38.5%, 70.3%, 68.1%, and 94.5% of the samples, respectively. Additional analysis of these urine samples with an established dilute and shoot (DaS) approach displayed a high consistency of the results obtained with both methods. However, due to higher sensitivity, a larger number of positive samples were observed using the DUS method consequently providing a suitable approach for human biomonitoring of mycotoxin exposure.


2021 ◽  
pp. 096032712199321
Author(s):  
M Charehsaz ◽  
S Helvacıoğlu ◽  
S Çetinkaya ◽  
R Demir ◽  
O Erdem ◽  
...  

In this study, the level of arsenic (As), lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) and also essential elements in beer samples consumed in Turkey were investigated using the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) method. The heavy metal-induced non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks were calculated. For essential elements, the calculated estimated daily intake of iron (Fe), copper (Cu), selenium (Se) and cobalt (Co) from beer consumption were compared with their toxicity reference values. Tukey post-hoc test showed that As was found at a significantly higher level when compared to Pb. Also, a significant correlation was found between As level and alcohol by volume percent. All samples had a hazard quotient and hazard index <1, indicating no non-carcinogenic risk from exposure to single or multiple heavy metals. Some samples exceeded the threshold limit of acceptable cancer risk for As in the high beer consumer group. This assessment showed that in addition to health implications based on the alcohol content of beer, there might be a carcinogenic risk associated with the heavy metals content of these beverages.


2019 ◽  
Vol 123 ◽  
pp. 57-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ioanna Katsikantami ◽  
Claudio Colosio ◽  
Athanasios Alegakis ◽  
Manolis N. Tzatzarakis ◽  
Elena Vakonaki ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur David ◽  
Jade Chaker ◽  
Thibaut Léger ◽  
Raghad Al-Salhi ◽  
Marlene Danner Dalgaard ◽  
...  

The analgesic paracetamol (N-acetyl-4-aminophenol, APAP) is commonly used to relieve pain, fever and malaise. While sales have increased worldwide, a growing body of experimental and epidemiological evidence has suggested APAP as a possible risk factor for various health disorders. To perform internal exposure-based risk assessment, the use of accurate and optimized biomonitoring methods is criticical. However, retrospectively assessing pharmaceutical use of APAP in humans is challenging because of its short half-life. The objective of this study was to address the key biomonitoring issues with APAP using current standard analytical methods based on urinary analyses of free APAP and its phase II conjugates. Using non-targeted analyses based on high-resolution mass spectrometry, we identified in a controlled longitudinal exposure study with male volunteers, unrecognized APAP metabolites with delayed formation and excretion rates. We postulate that these metabolites are formed via the thiomethyl shunt after the enterohepatic circulation as already observed in rodents. Importantly, the conjugated thiomethyl metabolites were (i) of comparable diagnostic sensitivity as the free APAP and its phase II conjugates detected by current methods; (ii) had delayed peak levels in blood and urine compared to other APAP metabolites and therefore potentially extend the window of exposure assessment; and (iii) provide relevant information regarding metabolic pathways of interest from a toxicological point of view. Including these metabolites in future APAP biomonitoring methods provide an option to decrease potential underestimation of APAP use and challenges the notion that the standard methods in biomonitoring based exclusively on the parent compound and its phase II metabolites are adequate for human biomonitoring of non-persistant chemical such as APAP. <br>


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