Assessment of daily intake of trace elements due to consumption of foodstuffs by adult inhabitants of Rio de Janeiro city.

Concentrations of Al, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, U and Zn were determined in vegetables (leafy vegetables, fruit, root, grain and cereal), derived products (sugar, coffee, manioc flour, wheat flour, corn flour, and pasta) and animal products (meat, fish, milk) most frequently consumed by adult inhabitants of Rio de Janeiro city. A total of 90 samples were analyzed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) as the principal method following sample dissolution by dry and wet ashing. Generally, highest contributions for the intake of micronutrients (Cu, Mn, Ni and Zn) arise from bean, rice and wheat flour consumption. Meat, cow milk and the flours, wheat and manioc, are major sources of Al, Cd, Pb and U intake. The daily intake of nine elements via foodstuffs was estimated as: 3.4x10(-4) mg of U, 1.8x10(-3) mg of Cd, 2.8x10(-2) mg of Pb, 2.3x10(-2) mg of Cr, 8.9x10(-2) mg of Ni, 1.12 mg of Cu, 2.5 mg of Mn, 3.5 mg of Al and 4.8 mg of Zn. The intake of toxic elements ranged between 2.7% (Cd) and 30% (U) of the provisional tolerable daily intake and reference dose values indicating that food consumption is, at present, no critical factor for the uptake of these toxic metals, in the population studied here. Concerning micronutrients, the recommended values of daily intake of Cu and Mn are conveniently supplied by the diet; however, for Cr and Zn they are lower than the recommend daily allowance. Due to high metal concentrations and consumption rates, black bean is the foodstuff that provided the highest ingestion rates of Cu, Mn, Ni and Zn (36-60% of the reference dose), being therefore a very important source of micronutrient supply.

Daily ingestion of 232Th, 238U, 226Ra, 228Ra and 210Pb in vegetables by inhabitants of Rio de Janeiro City.

The concentrations of the naturally occurring radionuclides 232Th, 238U, 210Pb, 226Ra and 238Ra were determined in the vegetables (leafy vegetables, fruit, root, bean and rice) and derived products (sugar, coffee, manioc flour, wheat flour, corn flour and pasta) consumed most by the adult inhabitants of Rio de Janeiro City. A total of 88 samples from 26 different vegetables and derived products were analyzed. The highest contribution to radionuclide intake arises from bean, wheat flour, manioc flour, carrot, rice, tomato and potato consumption. The estimated daily intakes due to the consumption of vegetables and derived products are 1.9 mBq of 232Th (0.47 microg), 2.0 mBq of 238U (0.17 microg), 19 mBq of 236Ra, 26 mBq of 210Pb and 47 mBq of 228Ra. The estimated annual effective dose due to the ingestion of vegetables and their derived products with the long-lived natural radionuclides is 14.5 microSv. Taking into account literature data for water and milk from Rio de Janeiro the dose value increases to 29 microSv, with vegetables and derived products responsible for 50% of the dose and water for 48%. 210Pb (62%) and 228Ra (24%) were found to be the main sources for internal irradiation.

Bacterial contamination of blenderized whole food and commercial enteral tube feedings in the Philippines.

Hospital-prepared tube feedings from four Philippine acute-care hospitals were analysed for microbial contamination. Two feedings were prepared on three separate days at each hospital. The tube feedings were either blended natural whole foods or a reconstituted commercial powdered nutritional product. Samples of each feeding were collected for coliform count and standard plate count at the time of preparation and at 1, 2 and 4 h after preparation after maintenance at room temperature (26-31 degrees C). At the time of preparation, mean coliform and standard plate counts for all samples were 10.3 most probable number per gram (MPN/g) and 7.4x10(4)colony-forming units per gram (cfu/g), respectively. Nine of 24 samples (38%) had coliform counts greater than 10 MPN/g, and 22/24 (92%) samples had standard plate counts greater than 10(3) cfu/g. There were significant increases in mean coliform and standard plate counts over 4 h (P=0.0005 and P=0.008, respectively). At 4 h after preparation, the mean coliform and standard plate counts were 18.2 MPN/g and 2.1x10(5) cfu/g, respectively. At this time, 18/24 (75%) samples had coliform counts greater than 10 MPN/g and 20/24 (83%) samples had standard plate counts greater than 10(5) cfu/g. The results of this study show that the microbial quality of the majority of the hospital-prepared enteral tube feedings analysed were not within published guidelines for safety.