Contaminants in organic and conventional foodstuffs in France

Abstract

The aim was to compare the levels of contamination in organic and conventional raw materials. To this end, the level of contamination by heavy metals (lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury), nitrates and nitrites, and some mycotoxins were monitored. Fifteen products were tested in their organic and conventional forms, including meat, milk, eggs, vegetables and cereals. The median levels of contamination were calculated and compared with the recommended or regulated maximum levels. The maximum levels were exceeded for lead in organic carrots and buckwheat, and in conventional wheat; for cadmium, in both organic and conventional buckwheat; for nitrates, in organic spinach; and for patulin in organic apples. Moreover, contamination of both conventional and organic wheat by deoxynivalenol was observed with a higher level in organic products. However, the health risk for consumers might be real only for the contamination by mycotoxins as the contaminated foods (apples, wheat) are the main contributors to total exposure.

Co-occurrence of type-A and type-B trichothecenes in barley from a northern region of Spain

“…Several researches have presented higher trichothecene occurrence in traditional samples (Bernhoft, Clasen, Kristoffersen and Torp, 2010, Gottschalk, Barthel, Engelhardt, Bauer and Meyer, 2007, Edwards, 2009b, while others have shown higher contamination rates in organic samples (Malmauret, Parent-Massin, Hardy and Verger, 2002). In our case, despite the low number of organic samples that may have limited the results that were obtained, a higher incidence as well as higher contamination levels were observed in the conventional samples.…”

Survey of total mercury and arsenic content in infant cereals marketed in Spain and estimated dietary intake

“…The same behavior is observed in previous studies on lead, cadmium and aflatoxins in the infant cereals (Hernández-Martínez, & Navarro-Blasco, 2012;. On the contrary, other reported studies suggest little difference in the arsenic content found in organic vegetables with respect to their ordinary or conventional production (Ghidini et al, 2005); only selective, occasional and sporadic contaminations may explain high levels of these contaminants (Malmauret, Parent-Massin, Hardy, & Verger, 2002).…”

Fusariummycotoxin content of UK organic and conventional wheat

“…This indicated the importance of weather in late summer, as well as early summer on the final mycotoxin content of grain at harvest. Previous studies comparing organic to conventional wheat have either failed to identify significant differences between the two practices (Berleth 1998, Malmauret et al 2002, Cirillo et al 2003, Champeil et al 2004, Jestoi et al 2004 or have detected (Doll et al 2002, Schollenberger et al 2002, Schollenberger et al 2005 (Edwards, 2004). It is likely that these factors balance one another resulting in a similar concentration of DON in the two practices.…”

“…Many studies failed to identify significant differences between the two practices within Europe (Malmauret et al 2002, Cirillo et al 2003, Champeil et al 2004, Jestoi et al 2004). However, significantly lower levels of DON in organic samples was detected in some regions of Germany (Doll et al 2002, Schollenberger et al 2002, Schollenberger et al 2005) although this was not the case in northern Germany in the mid-1990s (Berleth 1998).…”