Assessment of Human Exposure to Five Alternaria Mycotoxins in China by Biomonitoring Approach.

This biomonitoring study was conducted to investigate the concentration levels of five Alternaria mycotoxins in urine samples from 269 healthy volunteers living in the Yangtze River Delta, China. Alternariol (AOH), alternariol monomethyl ether (AME), tenuazonic acid (TeA) and tentoxin (TEN) were detected in 38.3%, 48.7%, 63.9% and 23.4% of urine samples with the concentrations ranging from 0.057 to 45.8 ng/mL, 0.020 to 0.802 ng/mL, 0.050 to 80.6 ng/mL and 0.021 to 0.939 ng/mL, respectively. Altenuene (ALT) was not detected in any urine sample. Based on the urinary concentrations, the probable daily intake (PDI) values of Alternaria mycotoxins were calculated, and 100%, 99.2-100%, 0.372% and 1.12% of participants exceeded the threshold of toxicological concern (TTC) values for AOH, AME, TeA and TEN, respectively. This study revealed high potential health risks related to the contaminations of major Alternaria mycotoxins in China and highlighted the necessity for more toxicological studies to provide better basis for further comprehensive risk assessments.

Exposure Assessment of Multiple Mycotoxins and Cumulative Health Risk Assessment: A Biomonitoring-Based Study in the Yangtze River Delta, China.

The extensive exposure to multiple mycotoxins has been demonstrated in many countries; however, realistic assessments of the risks related to cumulative exposure are limited. This biomonitoring study was conducted to investigate exposure to 23 mycotoxins/metabolites and their determinants in 227 adults (aged 20-88 years) in the Yangtze River Delta, China. Eight mycotoxins were detected in 110 urine samples, and multiple mycotoxins co-occurred in 51/227 (22.47%) of urine samples, with deoxynivalenol (DON), fumonisin B1 (FB1), and zearalenone (ZEN) being the most frequently occurring. For single mycotoxin risk assessment, FB1, ZEN, aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), and ochratoxin A (OTA) all showed potential adverse effects. However, for the 12 samples containing DON and ZEN, in which none had a hazard risk, the combination of both mycotoxins in two samples was considered to pose potential endocrine disrupting risks to humans by hazard index (HI) method. The combined margin of exposure (MOET) for AFB1 and FB1 could constitute a potential health concern, and AFB1 was the main contributor. Our approach provides a blueprint for evaluating the cumulative risks related to different types of mycotoxins and opens a new horizon for the accurate interpretation of epidemiological health outcomes related to multi-mycotoxin exposure.

Cumulative health risk assessment of co-occurring mycotoxins of deoxynivalenol and its acetyl derivatives in wheat and maize: case study, Shanghai, China.

Humans are naturally and frequently exposed to a multitude of mycotoxins, but health risk assessments are usually performed on individual mycotoxins, which may underestimate the total risks. In this study, we assessed for the first time the cumulative health risks of concomitant exposure via dietary intake (DI) to multiple mycotoxins, namely deoxynivalenol (DON) and its acetyl derivatives of 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol (3-ADON) and 15-acetyldeoxynivalenol (15-ADON), based on the concentration addition (CA) concept. A cross-sectional study was conducted in seven districts in Shanghai, China with 1269 participants and 330 wheat and maize samples analyzed. After probabilistic analysis using Monte Carlo simulation, the results showed no health risks to the population in Shanghai considering individual mycotoxins. However, if the cumulative health risks were calculated based on the combined consideration of DON with either 3-ADON or 15-ADON or both, the DI values in 95th percentile were up to 1087 ng/kg body weight/day, exceeding the Provisional Maximum Tolerable Daily Intake (PMTDI) of 1000 ng/kg body weight/day and hence representing potential health risks to the population in Shanghai. The integrated study proposed here could be a model strategy for cumulative health risk assessment on the co-occurring hazards in the fields of food safety combined with environmental contaminants.