Exposure assessment and risk characterisation of aflatoxins in randomly collected rice samples from local markets of Hyderabad, India.

Aflatoxin (AF) poisoning of staple foods, such as rice, is caused by fungal contamination by Aspergillus species. These AFs are genotoxic, carcinogenic and suppress the immune system. Hence, the present study was conducted to elucidate the prevalence of AF contamination in rice samples collected from local markets of Hyderabad, Telangana, India. The rice samples collected were analysed for AF by using HPLC-fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD). Based on AF contamination levels and dietary intake of rice, the health risk was assessed by the margin of exposure (MOE) and liver cancer risk in adults, adolescence and children. The percentage detected contamination with AFB1 and AFB2 of rice samples was 54% and 34%, with the concentration ranging between 0-20.35 µg/kg and 0-1.54 µg/kg, respectively. Three rice samples exceeded the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) total AF acceptable limit of 15 µg/kg. The average MOE values were 53.73, 50.58 and 35.69 (all <10,000) for adults, adolescence and children, respectively. The average liver cancer risk associated with rice consumption in the population of Hyderabad was found to be 0.27, 0.28 and 0.40 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cases/year/100,000 individuals in adults, adolescence and children, respectively. This study revealed an adverse health risk to population of Hyderabad due to consumption of AF contaminated rice.

Potential Health Risks Associated with the Heavy Metal Content in Commonly Consumed Food from Prakasam District of Andhra Pradesh, India.

The present study investigated the heavy metal (HM) accumulation in some food items and associated potential human health risk in the Prakasam district. Food samples were collected from 9 villages of different mandals mainly comprising of rice, wheat, green gram, red gram, black gram, potato, and amaranthus. The HMs chromium (Cr), arsenic (As), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and mercury (Hg) were analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy (ICPMS). The results showed that the HM concentrations in vegetables were higher than the cereals and pulses. The decreasing order of HM concentrations were observed as Cr > As > Pb > Cd > Hg, Cr > Pb > As = Cd > Hg and Cr > Pb > Cd > As > Hg in cereals, pulses, and vegetables, respectively. The dietary intake of cereals and vegetables contributed more exposure to HMs. The hazard index (HI) in case of cereals (3.648) and vegetables (1.003) exceeded 1 indicating the non-carcinogenic risk when these food items are consumed by adults. The HI in case of cereals (7.106) and vegetables (1.747) exceeded 1 indicating the health risks when these food items were consumed by children. The HI for cereals and vegetables in case of children is almost double to the HI of adults. The lifetime cancer risk was observed for Cr via consumption of rice and amaranthus, both in adults and children. In conclusion, health risk due to consumption of cereals and vegetables revealed both non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risk for adults and children. The findings of the present study can be used for the development of potential strategies for risk control and management.

Health risk assessment of heavy metals and strontium in groundwater used for drinking and cooking in 58 villages of Prakasam district, Andhra Pradesh, India.

Groundwater is one of the most important sources of water for drinking and cooking in rural India. A total of 382 groundwater samples were collected from 58 villages and analyzed for HMs and Sr by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer. The average concentrations of HMs and Sr in water was in the order of strontium (Sr) > arsenic (As) > chromium (Cr) > lead (Pb) > mercury (Hg) > cadmium (Cd). Out of 58 villages, 21, 37, 35, 35, 35 and 39 villages had Cr, As, Cd, Hg, Pb and Sr higher (WHO limit) than their respectively permissible levels. Health risk assessment of HMs and Sr for humans revealed that the non-carcinogenicity hazard quotients (HQi+d) for HMs and Sr were higher than unity for adult and children. The hazard index (HI) was 531.066 for adult and 902.926 for children. The HI > 1 was observed in 45 villages for adults and 56 villages for children. The lifetime cancer risk in adult for Asi, Asd, and Pbi in 36, 25 and 23 villages, whereas in children was 42, 20 and 22 villages, respectively. In conclusion, the health risks arising from consumption of groundwater containing HMs and Sr indicated that there is a significant carcinogenic risks for adult and children. This is the first attempt to provide information on the health risks of Sr in drinking water in India. The present findings can be useful for the development of potential strategies for risk control and management.

Current scenario of consumption of Lathyrus sativus and lathyrism in three districts of Chhattisgarh State, India.

Lathyrism is a disease caused by excessive consumption of grass pea, Lathyrus sativus especially under conditions of severe drought. Grass pea contains 3-N-oxalyl-L-2, 3-diaminopropanoic acid (ß-ODAP) a putative neurotoxin which acts through excitatory mechanism causing Neurolathyrism. Due to awareness of the disease, availability of food and levels of consumption of L. sativus there is reduction in lathyrism cases where higher consumption of L. sativus is reported in India. The present study was undertaken with the objective to assess the current scenario of consumption of L. sativus, incidence of cases of lathyrism, ß-ODAP, protein and amino acids content in L. sativus pulse collected from three districts (Bilaspur, Durg and Raipur) of Chattisgarh state. For this purpose, a total of 17,755 (13,129 rural and 4626 urban) individuals from 151 villages and 60 wards from urban area were covered for clinical examination. Out of total 5769 households (HHs) covered during the survey, 1602 HHs were cultivators, 1791 HHs non-cultivators and 2376 agricultural and other labourers. A one day 24-hour re-call diet survey was carried out in 5758 HHs (4549 rural and 1209 urban). A total of 360 split grass pea (SGP) samples were collected to estimate ß-ODAP, protein and amino acids content. Results of the study revealed that an average consumption of SGP was 20.9 gm/CU/day in Bilaspur and no consumption was reported among urban population of Raipur. Only nine old cases of lathyrism were found during the study. The mean ß-ODAP content in SGP was 0.63 ±â€¯0.14, 0.65 ±â€¯0.13 and 0.65 ±â€¯0.14 gm/100 gm, whereas the protein content was 27.0 ±â€¯2.39, 27.0 ±â€¯1.99 and 26.7 ±â€¯1.90 gm/100 gm in samples collected from Bilaspur, Durg and Raipur districts respectively. Arginine content was high in SGP and sulphur containing amino acids (cysteine and methionine) were less than other amino acids. In conclusion, the consumption of SGP was lower in these three districts with lower ß-ODAP content than earlier reports, thus the lower prevalence of lathyrism in the districts surveyed.