Public health risk associated with the co-occurrence of mycotoxins in spices consumed in Sri Lanka

Estimated exposure to EU regulated mycotoxins and risk characterization of aflatoxin-induced hepatic toxicity through the consumption of the toasted cereal flour called “gofio”, a traditional food of the Canary Islands (Spain)

“…As mentioned above, aflatoxins (particularly AFB1) are potent human carcinogens that have been linked to the development of liver cancer. It has been also established that these mycotoxins act synergistically with other known hepatocarcinogens, so that it has been established a strong influence of this mycotoxin in the high incidence of this cancer in several countries, especially in developing countries (Yogendrarajah et al, 2014). According to the estimates of JECFA and independent researchers, the risk of liver cancer in individuals who are simultaneously exposed to hepatocellular virus type B (HBV) and aflatoxin is 30 times higher than in individuals exposed to aflatoxins only (JECFA, 1998;Liu and Wu, 2010;Yogendrarajah et al, 2014).…”

“…It has been also established that these mycotoxins act synergistically with other known hepatocarcinogens, so that it has been established a strong influence of this mycotoxin in the high incidence of this cancer in several countries, especially in developing countries (Yogendrarajah et al, 2014). According to the estimates of JECFA and independent researchers, the risk of liver cancer in individuals who are simultaneously exposed to hepatocellular virus type B (HBV) and aflatoxin is 30 times higher than in individuals exposed to aflatoxins only (JECFA, 1998;Liu and Wu, 2010;Yogendrarajah et al, 2014). Estimates of prevalence of HBV in Western Europe (including Spain) range from 0.5-1% depending on the age group (Liu and Wu, 2010), which would mean that between 12500 and 25000 people in the Canary Islands are affected.…”

“…EFSA recommends that risk characterization of a particular food is made by comparing exposure scenarios with reference doses of the parent compounds, using the lower bound (LB) and upper bound (UP) approaches, and considering the mean and 95 th percentile exposures to the sum of modified and parent toxins (EFSA, 2014). Following the recommendations the calculated exposure values should be compared with the established Tolerable Daily Intakes (TDIs)/Provisional TDIs (PTDIs)/Provisional Maximum TDIs (PMTDIs) in order to evaluate the risk of exposure through the consumption of a particular food (Yogendrarajah et al, 2014). For most regulated mycotoxins the TDIs have been calculated (Marroquin-Cardona et al, 2014), except for aflatoxins, because of the known fact that AFB1 is a genotoxic carcinogen, and therefore exposure at any level is considered unsafe (Yogendrarajah et al, 2014).…”

“…Following the recommendations the calculated exposure values should be compared with the established Tolerable Daily Intakes (TDIs)/Provisional TDIs (PTDIs)/Provisional Maximum TDIs (PMTDIs) in order to evaluate the risk of exposure through the consumption of a particular food (Yogendrarajah et al, 2014). For most regulated mycotoxins the TDIs have been calculated (Marroquin-Cardona et al, 2014), except for aflatoxins, because of the known fact that AFB1 is a genotoxic carcinogen, and therefore exposure at any level is considered unsafe (Yogendrarajah et al, 2014). However, despite its uncertainty a PMTDI of 1 ng/kg B.W./day has been proposed for AFB1 (WHO, 1998).…”

Sterigmatocystin Occurrence in Paddy and Processed Rice Produced in Italy in the Years 2014–2015 and Distribution in Milled Rice Fractions

“…STC can occur in grains and grain-based products [11,12] and in other food such as green coffee, nuts, spices, beer and on the surface of ripened cheese [13,14,15,16,17]. STC is generally analysed by chromatographic techniques (HPLC-UV, HPLC-FLD, LC-MS/MS, GC-MS).…”