Monitoring of aflatoxins in edible vegetable oils consumed in Western Iran in Iran: a risk assessment study

Abstract

ABSTRACT Edible vegetable oils as an important component of our daily diet are widely consumed around the world. In this research, the concentrations of aflatoxins, including B1 (AFB1), B2 (AFB2), G1 (AFG1) and G2 (AFG2) were measured in 43 edible vegetable oil samples such as peanut oil (n = 18), sesame oil (n = 15), olive oil and (n = 10) using high-Performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detector (HPLC- FLD). In addition, health risks of aflatoxins in adults and children due to ingestion of edible oils were calculated using the Margin of Exposure Estimation (MOE) by the Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) model. The results indicated that the total aflatoxin (TAF) and AFB1 concentrations in 30 (69.76%) and 29(67.14%) of the samples were in the ranges 0.09–30.95 µg/kg and 0.04–20.56 µg/kg, respectively. Also, the concentrations ofTAF and AFB1 in 18 and 16 samples were higher than the European Union maximum permissible limit, which were 4 and 2 µg/kg, respectively.While according to risk assessment analysis, the consumption of edible vegetable oils in children was safe. MOE values of aflatoxin through the consumption of edible vegetable oils in adult were lower than 10,000, showing that the adult are at considerable liver cancer risk. Therefore, it is necessary to strict inspection and monitoring of edible oil products by the regulatory bodies.