Dietary Exposure and Risk Assessment of Aflatoxin M1 for Children Aged 1 to 9 Years Old in Serbia.

Dragan R Milićević,Milica Zeković,Jelena Milešević,Mirjana Gurinović,Saša Janković,Maria Glibetić,Jasna Đinović-Stojanović

doi:10.3390/nu13124450

Abstract

The present study was conducted to estimate the exposure and characterize the risk for the child population of Serbia to Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) from milk and milk-based food. A total of 3404 samples comprising milk and different milk-based food samples were collected from various regions of Serbia from 2017 to 2019. Evaluation of AFM1 exposure was carried out using the deterministic method, whereas risk characterization was evaluated using the margin of exposure (MOE) and the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Detection rates for AFM1 in milk and milk-based food samples ranged between 2% and 79%, with the highest incidence (79%) and mean level (22.34 ± 0.018 ng kg−1) of AFM1 being detected in pasteurized and UHT milk. According to the three consumption estimates, the values of estimated daily intake (EDI) were higher for toddlers as compared with children aged 3–9 years. Children aged 1–3 years had the highest risk of exposure to AFM1 in milk, with an estimated daily intake of 0.164 and 0.193 ng kg−1 bw day−1 using lower bound (LB) and upper bound (UB) exposure scenarios, respectively. Such difference could result from the higher consumption to weight in younger children. Based on the estimated daily intake (EDI) found in this study, the risk of AFM1 exposure due to consumption of milk and milk-based food was low since the MOE values obtained were >10,000. In addition, the risk of HCC cases/year/105 individuals of different age groups showed that the value of HCC, using potency estimates of 0.0017 (mean), was maximum (0.00034) in the age group 1–3 years, which indicates no health risk for the evaluated groups. The present study revealed the importance of controlling and preventing AFM1 contamination in milk through continuous monitoring and regular inspection to reduce the risk of AFM1 exposure, especially in children.

Highlights

Mycotoxins are toxic compounds produced as secondary metabolites by certain groups of fungi and constitute a significant hazard to food safety and public health [1]
The mean levels of Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) based on the Lower bound (LB) mean ranked as follows: pasteurized and UHT milk >
Considering the present evidence on the negative health effects of AFM1, this study through the margin of exposure (MOE) approach and the population risk assessment method suggests that milk and dairy products had negligible health risk to the child population due to AFM1 exposure

Summary

Introduction

Mycotoxins are toxic compounds produced as secondary metabolites by certain groups of fungi and constitute a significant hazard to food safety and public health [1]. Under certain environmental conditions (i.e., temperature and humidity) and/or biotic stress, toxigenic fungi and their metabolites may contaminate crops and food commodities in different phases of production and processing [2]. Mycotoxins show stability against heat processes, which makes their occurrence in processed food likely expected even if toxinproducing molds are eliminated during the food preparation process [3]. Consumption of mycotoxin-contaminated food may lead to different health adverse effects, including immune suppression, target organ toxicity, genotoxicity, or carcinogenicity [4]. When animals ingest these toxins, their metabolites or unmetabolized compounds may be transferred to products such as milk and further contaminate dairy products.

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