Organic Pollutants In Food Research Articles

Detection and health implications of phthalates in tea beverages in market: Application of novel solid-phase microextraction fibers

Assessment and control of emerging organic pollutants in food have become critical for global food safety and health. The European Union has set standards for certain emerging organic pollutants, such as phthalic acid esters (PAEs) in food. Because of being endocrine disruptors, PAEs are toxic and carcinogenic to humans. Release of PAEs from packaging materials poses a potential risk to human health and causes environmental pollution. In this study, a highly sensitive analytical method for the detection of PAE contents in tea beverages was established using hydroxyl-functionalized covalent organic frameworks (COFs) as solid-phase microextraction (SPME) coating. Results indicate that functionalization with hydroxyl groups enhances the adsorption of PAEs. The proposed method exhibits a wide linear range (1–20,000 ng L−1), low limits of detection (> 0.048 ng L−1), and satisfactory recovery (72.8 %–127.3 %). To investigate the PAE contamination in beverages, contamination levels of six typical PAEs and their health impacts were surveyed across various brands/types/packaging materials of tea beverages sold in China. Results of the hazard quotient and hazard index approaches suggest no or extremely low health concerns regarding PAE levels. We observe that hydroxyl groups functionalized on COFs enhance the adsorption of PAEs. Moreover, an important outcome of this study is development of an efficient and sensitive direct detection method for PAEs in complex tea matrices, providing a reliable approach for the assessment of PAEs in other complex matrices.

Ultrasound assisted solvent extraction of porous membrane-packed samples followed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for determination of BADGE, BFDGE and their derivatives in packed vegetables

The problem of the presence of trace organic pollutants in food is of growing importance due to increasing awareness about their impact on newborns, infants and adults of reproductive age. Despite the fact that packaged food products offer many advantages, packaging can be a source of contamination for stored food. Thus, monitoring such pollution in food is of high importance. In this work, a novel methodology based on the solvent extraction of porous membrane-packed samples followed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was applied for the determination of bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (BADGE), bisphenol F diglycidyl ether (BFDGE) and their derivatives in packed vegetables. Several parameters of the extraction process were optimized, including the volume and type of extraction solvent as well as the sonication time. Due to advantages such as simplicity of use, short analysis time, and a reduction in the required amount solvent, the developed procedure can be considered green. In addition, the developed methodology was characterized by good validation parameters. Limit if quantitation (LOQ) was found to be in the range of 0.8 to 1.5 ng/g. The obtained recoveries varied from 78.3% to 111.2%. The repeatability of the extraction ranged between 0.6% and 5.8% (RSD). The proposed method was successfully applied to determine the presence of BADGE, BFDGE and their derivative compounds in the vegetable samples stored in different types of containers. The obtained data indicate that the majority of investigated samples were contaminated by chlorinated and hydroxyl derivatives of BADGE.

Persistent Organic Pollutants in Food: Contamination Sources, Health Effects and Detection Methods.

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) present in foods have been a major concern for food safety due to their persistence and toxic effects. To ensure food safety and protect human health from POPs, it is critical to achieve a better understanding of POP pathways into food and develop strategies to reduce human exposure. POPs could present in food in the raw stages, transferred from the environment or artificially introduced during food preparation steps. Exposure to these pollutants may cause various health problems such as endocrine disruption, cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes, birth defects, and dysfunctional immune and reproductive systems. This review describes potential sources of POP food contamination, analytical approaches to measure POP levels in food and efforts to control food contamination with POPs.

Research progress on exposure levels and toxic pathways of typical persistent organic pollutants in foods

Dioxins, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, and benzo(a)pyrene are common organic pollutants in food. They have been of concern to academics and government administrations due to high residue and persistence, easy accumulation and strong harmful effects. The National Research Council of the United States of America published Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century: A Vision and Strategy in 2007, which proposed a new concept of toxicity testing that toxicity testing should take full consideration of population exposure data and base on in vitro tests, human cell lines, toxicity pathways and high-throughput screening. Meanwhile, systems biology, bioinformatics and rapid assay technologies will be used to better understand toxicity pathways-the cellular response pathways that can lead to adverse health effects when sufficient perturbing induced by chemicals exposure. The new toxicity testing strategy has changed the traditional testing pattern and has brought a wide impact on the international relevant fields. The European Union, the World Health Organization, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Administration, and the National Center for Toxicological Research have organized relevant discussions and exploratory studies to address the new toxicity testing concept and how to evaluate and utilize the results of traditional toxicity test researches. Compared to the discussion, 'whether to do it', ten years ago, the question, 'how to do it', has become the concern of the current discussion. Therefore, how to respond to the concept of toxicity testing and how to effectively utilize and excavate traditional toxicity test data have been the focus of multi-disciplines and interdisciplinary academia such as toxicology, food hygiene and environmental science. Therefore, this article provides an overview of the exposure levels of dioxin, polybrominated diphenyl ethers and benzo[a]pyrene, which are typical persistent organic pollutants in food in China and the current research status of toxic pathways based on whole animal experiments. The exposure level, toxic effect and toxicity mechanism of three contaminants are analyzed and summarized in order to provide basis for future results based on the 21st century toxicity test compared with traditional tests and data mining analysis of these two kinds of data. Meanwhile, it also lays the foundation for the establishment of a toxicity testing framework based on exposure characteristics, toxic pathways, and biomarkers.

The Brazilian strategy for monitoring persistent organic pollutants in food obtained from animals

The implementation of quality control procedures in analytical laboratories around the world has become essential in order to ensure the quality and safety of food. This article describes the procedure adopted by the Brazilian government in order to achieve this goal, specifically in the area of analysis of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The validation of a multiresidue method, the calculation of measurement uncertainty, and the quality control procedure adopted in the determination of these compounds in beef cattle fat were performed as set out in national legislation (Brasil, 2011), which is aligned with international guidelines. Evaluation was made of selectivity, linearity, precision (repeatability and reproducibility), accuracy, and limits of detection and quantification. Stability studies were also undertaken. The technique was extended to three other matrices (poultry, horse, and pig adipose tissues), with evaluation of matrix effects, selectivity, linearity, and accuracy. The analyses were performed by gas chromatography with electron capture detection (GC-ECD) and mass spectrometric detection (GC–MS). In recent years, analyses conducted under the National Plan for Control of Residues and Contaminants (PNCRC) have shown no exceedances of the maximum permitted residue levels (MRLs) of pesticides and PCBs in these tissues, as observed in other countries that carry out effective monitoring of these contaminants.

"Shoot and Sense" Janus Micromotors-Based Strategy for the Simultaneous Degradation and Detection of Persistent Organic Pollutants in Food and Biological Samples.

A novel Janus micromotor-based strategy for the direct determination of diphenyl phthalate (DPP) in food and biological samples is presented. Mg/Au Janus micromotors are employed as novel analytical platforms for the degradation of the non-electroactive DPP into phenol, which is directly measured by difference pulse voltammetry on disposable screen-printed electrodes. The self-movement of the micromotors along the samples result in the generation of hydrogen microbubbles and hydroxyl ions for DPP degradation. The increased fluid transport improves dramatically the analytical signal, increasing the sensitivity while lowering the detection potential. The method has been successfully applied to the direct analysis of DPP in selected food and biological samples, without any sample treatment and avoiding any potential contamination from laboratory equipment. The developed approach is fast (∼5 min) and accurate with recoveries of ∼100%. In addition, efficient propulsion of multiple Mg/Au micromotors in complex samples has also been demonstrated. The advantages of the micromotors-assisted technology, i.e., disposability, portability, and the possibility to carry out multiple analysis simultaneously, hold considerable promise for its application in food and biological control in analytical applications with high significance.

Target and non-target screening strategies for organic contaminants, residues and illicit substances in food, environmental and human biological samples by UHPLC-QTOF-MS

In this paper, we illustrate the potential of ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) coupled with hybrid quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (QTOF MS) for large scale screening of organic contaminants in different types of samples. Thanks to the full-spectrum acquisition at satisfactory sensitivity, it is feasible to apply both (post)-target and non-target approaches for the rapid qualitative screening of organic pollutants in food, biological and environmental samples. Different strategies have been applied and compared in this work. The first approach consists of target screening based on automatically extracting the exact analyte masses with a narrow mass window (±10 mDa). The selection of analytes can be made after MS acquisition as non-specific analyte information is required when injecting the samples. The second, non-targeted approach, consists of a first component detection step followed by the search of the detected components in home-made spectral libraries. In this work, two types of libraries have been evaluated: a theoretical database, including the molecular formula of a large number of pollutants (∼1000), and an empirical mass spectra library which includes a lower number of compounds for which reference standards were available. In all cases the confidence of the identification process was excellent, thanks to the value of information given in QTOF MSE acquisition mode (i.e. simultaneous acquisition of low and high energy TOF MS spectra in a unique run). Both, target and non-target approaches, are complementary and both have advantages and drawbacks. Their application to different types of samples has allowed the detection of diverse organic compounds, for example the mycotoxin fumonisin B1 in food samples, cocaine and several metabolites in human urine, as well as several pesticides, antibiotics and drugs of abuse in urban wastewater.

Bioaccessibility of polychlorinated biphenyls in different foods using an in vitro digestion method

Bioaccessibility of organic pollutants in food is important for exposure estimation and risk assessment. An in vitro enzyme digestion experiment was carried out to analyze the bioaccessibility of PCBs in different foods including freshwater fish (bighead carp and oriental weather fish) and vegetables (spinach and cabbage). The results indicated that the bioaccessibility of PCBs in freshwater fish (3%) was much lower than that in leafy vegetables (25%). Based on field survey, the daily exposure TEQ value from these two types of food was 17.9 pg/kg bw/day. However, when bioaccessibility was taken into consideration, the value decreased to 0.61 pg/kg bw/day. Therefore, the forms of PCBs existing in food strongly influenced the bioavailability for humans, which may have important implications on dietary exposure. To our knowledge, this is the first paper to illustrate the bioaccessibility of PCBs in different foods using an in vitro digestion method.