Airborne mycotoxins in dust from grain elevators |
| |
Authors: | S Mayer V Curtui E Usleber M Gareis |
| |
Institution: | (1) Department of Agriculture and Natural Science, Hedmark College, 2322 Ridabu, Norway;(2) National Institute of Occupational Health, 0033 Oslo, Norway;(3) Department of Environmental Medicine, National Institute of Public Health, 0403 Oslo, Norway |
| |
Abstract: | Workers in grain elevators are exposed to grain dust and may therefore have an increased risk of inhalatory contact with mycotoxins.
To study the mycotoxin burden of such environments, settled grain dust samples (n=35) were collected from several locations
of a total of 13 grain elevators in Germany, and analysed for ochratoxin A (OTA, detection limit 0.01 ng/g), deoxynivalenol
(DON, detection limit 15 ng/g), and zearalenone (ZEA, detection limit 6 ng/g), respectively. Cytotoxicity of these samples
was assessed by a MTT bioassay with a swine kidney target cell line. Additionally, the airborne dust concentration of these
locations was determined. Nearly all settled dust samples contained OTA (96%), DON (100%), and ZEA (100%) with median concentrations
of 0.4 ng/g, 416 ng/g, and 126 ng/g, respectively. Cytotoxic effects in varying degrees from weakly to highly toxic were caused
by crude extracts of 86% of the dust samples. However, cytotoxicity did not correlate with mycotoxin levels in these samples
and thus indicated the presence of cytotoxic compounds of unknown origin. Based on the mycotoxin findings in settled dust
samples and the airborne dust concentrations, the average airborne mycotoxin concentrations were estimated to be 0.002 ng/m3 (OTA), 2 ng/m3 (DON), and 1 ng/m3 (ZEA), respectively. The relevance of these findings for occupational health was assessed by comparison with WHO recommendations
for the maximum tolerable daily (oral) intake (TDI). Even in a worst case scenario, the calculated inhalatory intake was far
below the TDI values. However, considering the uncertainties resulting from different exposure pathways, namely oral ingestion
versus inhalation, further research should primarily address the problem of how adequate assessment criteria for airborne
exposure to mycotoxins could be established.
Presented at the 28th Mykotoxin-Workshop, Bydgoszcz, Poland, May 29–31, 2006 |
| |
Keywords: | grain dust ochratoxin A deoxynivalenol zearalenone airborne exposure MTT-bioassay |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|