Behavioral Intervention and Decreased Daily Melamine Exposure from Melamine Tableware

Abstract

This study aims to examine whether behavior intervention can decrease total urinary melamine excretion. A total of 16 healthy subjects were recruited from two university buildings (eight subjects each). By using a stepped-wedge cluster randomized and controlled trial design, we randomly assigned eight subjects from the same building to the serial steps of either control-intervention-intervention or control-control-intervention. Each step lasted for 3 days. Subjects in the intervention step carried one bag containing stainless steel tableware as meal boxes and used them for each meal during the trial, whereas those in the control step carried one empty bag. The 24 h urine samples for 9 consecutive days were collected. In the control-intervention-intervention group, after excluding two subjects with missing data, the median absolute difference of the total 3 day melamine excretion between the seventh to the ninth day and from the first to the third day was -19.9 μg (a range from -160.6 to -7.2 μg, p = 0.028, n = 6). The median protection percent of the total 3 day melamine exposure (the amount from the seventh to the ninth day minus the amount from the first to the third day, divided by the amount from the first to the third day) was 68.4%, ranging from 41.8% to 91.8%. Regular use of stainless steel-made meals boxes can mitigate melamine exposure from melamine tableware.

Development of analytical method of melamine in placenta from pregnant women by isotope‐dilution liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry

“…Melamine contamination in blank analyses was a recurring problem during the development of the method . According to our study and other studies, melamine has been detected in most urine samples obtained from different populations, indicating that in daily life people are continuously exposed to environmental melamine . Thus, it was impossible for us to have a blank placenta to calculate a calibration curve in matrix.…”

“…46 According to our study and other studies, melamine has been detected in most urine samples obtained from different populations, indicating that in daily life people are continuously exposed to environmental melamine. [2][3][4]6 Thus, it was impossible for us to have a blank placenta to calculate a calibration curve in matrix. We had to choose a placenta with a relatively low signal of melamine as a blank to do this.…”

“…Melamine (>0.66 ng/mL of method of detection limit (MDL)) was found in 76% of 492 urine samples drawn from a random sample of an adult population in the USA in 2012 . In southern Taiwan, melamine (MDL as 0.8 ng/mL) has been found in 97.7% (85/87) of urine samples obtained from children and their parents, 66.7% of 267 urine samples obtained from university students, and 93.2% of urine samples collected from urolithiasis patients . In one updated study in the United States, melamine was recently detected in 78% of the urine samples collected from 109 children (4 months to 8 years old) …”

A computational mechanistic study of the deamination reaction of melamine

“…As a result, melamine‐induced nephrotoxicity has now become a global concern, and has gained the attention of pediatricians, urologists, and radiologists . More recently, Wu et al found that using stainless steel meal boxes to store high‐temperature foods can significantly reduce melamine exposure from melamine tableware by some 68.4% (within the range 41.8% to 91.8%) …”

“…[7][8][9][10][11][12][13] More recently, Wu et al found that using stainless steel meal boxes to store high-temperature foods can significantly reduce melamine exposure from melamine tableware by some 68.4% (within the range 41.8% to 91.8%). [14] The ground-state structure of melamine has been studied by ab initio and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. [15][16][17][18][19] Moreover, the crystal structure of melamine has been studied using X-ray diffraction, [20,21] and X-ray and neutron diffraction.…”