scholarly journals Challenges in risk assessment of multiple mycotoxins in food

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 791-811 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Assunção ◽  
M.J. Silva ◽  
P. Alvito
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Exposure Assessment ◽  
Hazard Assessment ◽  
Human Exposure ◽  
Probabilistic Models ◽  
Deep Understanding ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Interactive Effects ◽  
Knowledge Generation ◽  
Experimental Conditions

Most fungi are able to produce several mycotoxins simultaneously and, consequently, to contaminate a wide variety of foodstuffs. Therefore, the risk of human co-exposure to multiple mycotoxins is real, raising a growing concern about their potential impact on human health. Besides, government and industry regulations are usually based on individual toxicities, and do not take into account the complex dynamics associated with interactions between co-occurring groups of mycotoxins. The present work assembles, for the first time, the challenges posed by the likelihood of human co-exposure to these toxins and the possibility of interactive effects occurring after absorption, towards knowledge generation to support a more accurate human risk assessment. Regarding hazard assessment, a physiologically-based framework is proposed in order to infer the health effects from exposure to multiple mycotoxins in food, including knowledge on the bioaccessibility, toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics of single and combined toxins. The prioritisation of the most relevant mixtures to be tested under experimental conditions that attempt to mimic human exposure and the use of adequate mathematical approaches to evaluate interactions, particularly concerning the combined genotoxicity, were identified as the main challenges for hazard assessment. Regarding exposure assessment, the need of harmonised food consumption data, availability of multianalyte methods for mycotoxin quantification, management of left-censored data, use of probabilistic models and multibiomarker approaches are highlighted, in order to develop a more precise and realistic exposure assessment. To conclude, further studies on hazard and exposure assessment of multiple mycotoxins, using harmonised methodologies, are crucial towards an improvement of data quality and a more reliable and robust risk characterisation, which is central for risk management and, consequently, to prevent mycotoxins-associated adverse effects. A deep understanding of the nature of interactions between multiple mycotoxins will contribute to draw real conclusions on the health impact of human exposure to mycotoxin mixtures.

Study Explores Risk-Based Approaches to Produced Water

2020 ◽  
Vol 72 (12) ◽  
pp. 62-63
Author(s):  
Chris Carpenter
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Adverse Effect ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Adverse Effects ◽  
Exposure Assessment ◽  
Hazard Assessment ◽  
Produced Water ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Mixing Zone ◽  
Risk Characterization

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper SPE 199412, “New Produced-Water Risk-Based-Approach Guidance,” by Mathijs Smit, Shell; Sean Hayes, More Energy; and Oliver Pelz, BP, et al., for the 2020 SPE International Conference and Exhibition on Health, Safety, Environment, and Sustainability, originally scheduled to be held in Bogota, Colombia, 17-19 March. The paper has not been peer reviewed. A global trend has developed toward the application of risk- based assessment (RBA) techniques for managing environmental risks and considering potential effects of produced-water (PW) discharge. The main objective of the complete paper is to achieve harmony in the means by which operators execute RBA for offshore PW discharges. This coordination is likely to enhance broader understanding and acceptance of RBA techniques internationally. RBA Techniques Key Principles. An RBA approach to managing PW begins with an assessment objective (e.g., demonstrating no adverse effect outside an accepted zone). The RBA characterizes the risk (i.e., the likelihood that adverse effects may occur) to the environment of a PW discharge given the exposure resulting from effluent discharge and the sensitivity of the receiving environment to exposure. To assess the risks of discharge, existing international frameworks for ecological risk assessment are available. These frameworks include data collection, hazard assessment, exposure assessment, and risk characterization. The specifics of data collection depend on the form of the hazard assessment and the exposure assessment, which, in turn, are dependent on the risk characterization, which allows compliance with the assessment objective to be evaluated. The purpose of the RBA for PW can be to target no adverse effect beyond an accepted zone or to serve as a management tool to drive continuous improvement. The risk-assessment steps usually are executed through a tiered process. Regulatory Approaches to RBA. At the time of writing, only a handful of regulatory frameworks for offshore PW management include principles of RBA. Table 1 of the complete paper provides a comparison of different assessment objectives and endpoints for regulatory PW RBA approaches used in selected basins. The table makes clear that it is not practical or necessary to meet the required criteria at the end of the pipe. Common practice defines a zone where the defined threshold may still be exceeded. This zone is often referred to as the mixing zone. While the use of a 500-m mixing zone is common practice offshore Brazil, for instance, in the US Gulf of Mexico, a 100-m mixing zone is applied. Different thresholds are applied in the different jurisdictions that justify the mixing zones. Defining the Adverse Effect Threshold. The three regulatory approaches presented in Table 1 of the complete paper apply different methodologies for defining the threshold level of adverse effects that should not be exceeded.

Data Requirements for Assessment of Device Risks

1988 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 509-518
Author(s):  
Joseph V. Rodricks ◽  
Stephen L. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Ethylene Oxide ◽  
Exposure Assessment ◽  
Medical Devices ◽  
Human Exposure ◽  
Chemical Constituents ◽  
Hazardous Chemical ◽  
Data Gaps ◽  
Data Requirements

The tools of risk assessment are now applied in the regulation of most classes of commercially produced chemicals, and there appear to be good reasons to apply the technique to potentially hazardous chemical constituents of medical devices. If it is to be applied, several sets of issues and data requirements almost unique to device constituents risk assessment need to be explored. Most important of these are the issues of inter-route extrapolation and assessment of human exposure to device constituents. An example of the latter problem, involving residues of the device sterilant ethylene oxide, is provided to reveal the types of data needed to assess human exposure to device constituents. It also reveals the type of device usage database that has been developed to assist exposure assessment. Several suggestions for dealing with data gaps in all types of device risk assessment are provided.

Improving the relevance and efficiency of human exposure assessments within the process of regulatory risk assessment

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Money
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Exposure Assessment ◽  
Information Acquisition ◽  
Human Exposure ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Human Exposure Assessment ◽  
Regulatory Risk Assessment

The article explores how tiered and targeted information acquisition can improve the effectiveness of the human exposure assessment process.

Auditors and the Principal-Principal Agency Conflict in Family Controlled Firms

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 31-55
Author(s):  
Chiraz Ben Ali ◽  
Sabri Boubaker ◽  
Michel Magnan
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Audit Fees ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Audit Risk ◽  
Controlling Shareholder ◽  
Voting Power ◽  
The Public ◽  
Agency Conflict ◽  
Jel Classifications

SUMMARY This paper examines whether multiple large shareholders (MLS) affect audit fees in firms where the largest controlling shareholder (LCS) is a family. Results show that there is a negative relationship between audit fees and the presence, number, and voting power of MLS. This is consistent with the view that auditors consider MLS as playing a monitoring role over the LCS, mitigating the potential for expropriation by the LCS. Therefore, our evidence suggests that auditors reduce their audit risk assessment and audit effort and ultimately audit fees in family controlled firms with MLS. Data Availability: Data are available from the public sources cited in the text. JEL Classifications: G32; G34; M42; D86.

In Vitro Toxicology Methods in Risk Assessment

1996 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 325-331
Author(s):  
Iain F. H. Purchase
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Hazard Assessment ◽  
Human Health Risk ◽  
In Vitro Test ◽  
In Vitro Methods ◽  
New Concepts ◽  
Vitro Test

The title of this paper is challenging, because the question of how in vitro methods and results contribute to human health risk assessment is rarely considered. The process of risk assessment usually begins with hazard assessment, which provides a description of the inherent toxicological properties of the chemical. The next step is to assess the relevance of this to humans, i.e. the human hazard assessment. Finally, information on exposure is examined, and risk can then be assessed. In vitro methods have a limited, but important, role to play in risk assessment. The results can be used for classification and labelling; these are methods of controlling exposure, analogous to risk assessment, but without considering exposure. The Ames Salmonella test is the only in vitro method which is incorporated into regulations and used widely. Data from this test can, at best, lead to classification of a chemical with regard to genotoxicity, but cannot be used for classification and labelling on their own. Several in vitro test systems which assess the topical irritancy and corrosivity of chemicals have been reasonably well validated, and the results from these tests can be used for classification. The future development of in vitro methods is likely to be slow, as it depends on the development of new concepts and ideas. The in vivo methods which currently have reasonably developed in vitro alternatives will be the easiest to replace. The remaining in vivo methods, which provide toxicological information from repeated chronic dosing, with varied endpoints and by mechanisms which are not understood, will be more difficult to replace.

scholarly journals The Effect of pH, Ionic Strength and the Presence of PbII on the Formation of Calcium Carbonate from Homogenous Alkaline Solutions at Room Temperature

Minerals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 783
Author(s):  
Fulvio Di Lorenzo ◽  
Kay Steiner ◽  
Sergey V. Churakov
Keyword(s):  
Ionic Strength ◽  
Deep Understanding ◽  
Inhibitory Effect ◽  
Alkaline Solutions ◽  
Nucleation Kinetics ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Calcium Carbonates ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
Geological Processes ◽  
System Variables

Precipitation of calcium carbonates in aqueous systems is an important factor controlling various industrial, biological, and geological processes. In the first part of this study, the well-known titration approach introduced by Gebauer and coworkers in 2008 s used to obtain reliable experimental dataset for the deep understanding of CaCO3 nucleation kinetics in supersaturated solutions over a broad range of pH and ionic strength conditions. In the second part, the effect of impurities, i.e., 1 mol% of Pb2+, was assessed in the same range of experimental conditions. Divalent lead has been shown to have an inhibitory effect in all ranges of the conditions tested except for pH 8 and low ionic strength (≤0.15 mol/L). Future investigations might take advantage of the methodology and the data provided in this work to investigate the effect of other system variables. The investigation of all the major variables and the assessment of eventual synergic effects could improve our ability to predict the formation of CaCO3 in complex natural systems.

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