Levels of Essential and Xenobiotic Elements and Their Relationships in Milk Available on the Slovak Market with the Estimation of Consumer Exposure

Biological Trace Element Research - The monitoring of various elements in the cow milk is important in the agricultural sector. The goal of this study was to determine the concentrations of calcium...     

Exposure Estimation for Risk Assessment of the Phthalate Incident in Taiwan

Background

In May 2011, di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalates (DEHP) and, to a lesser extent, di-iso-nonyl phthalate (DiNP) were found to have been illegally used for many years in Taiwan as clouding agents in foods including sports drinks, juice beverages, tea drinks, fruit jam/nectar/jelly, and health or nutrient supplements.

Objective

To estimate the DEHP exposure for the study participants for the follow-up epidemiological study and health risk assessment.

Methods

A total of 347 individuals possibly highly exposed to phthalate-tainted foods participated in the study. Exposure assessment was performed based on the participants'' responses to a structured questionnaire, self-report of exposure history, urinary metabolite concentrations, and DEHP concentration information in 2449 food records. A Bayesian statistical approach using Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation was employed to deal with the uncertainties in the DEHP concentrations of the contaminated foods and the participants'' likelihood of being exposed.

Results

An estimated 37% and 15% of children younger than 12 years old were exposed to DEHP at medium (20–50 μg / kg_bw / day) and high AvDIs (50–100 μg / kg_bw / day), respectively, prior to the episode (9% and 3% in adults, respectively). Moreover, 11% of children and 1% of adults were highly exposed (> 100 μg / kg_bw / day), with a maximum of 414.1 μg / kg_bw / day and 126.4 μg / kg_bw / day, respectively.

Conclusions

The phthalate exposure-associated adverse health effects for these participants warrant further investigation. The estimation procedure may be applied to other exposure assessment with various sources of uncertainties.     

Consumer Risk Assessment Associated with Intake of Pesticide Residues in Food of Plant Origin from the Retail Market in Poland

The aim of this study was to characterize short- and long-term risk for consumers associated with dietary intake of pesticide residues in fruits, vegetables, and other foodstuffs available on the Polish market based on 2010–2013 official surveillance results. Among 779 samples collected from 2010 to 2013 no pesticide residue was found in 39.7% samples while 58.5% contained residues at or below the EU Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs). Non-compliances (residues above the respective MRLs) were found in 14 samples (1.8%). Most of the estimated daily intakes were well below 1% of respective acceptable daily intake (ADI) values. The highest intake for children and adults was about 7% and 1.5% of ADI, respectively. For non-compliant results acute risk was characterized. Predicted short-term intakes for children and adults ranged from 0.7% to 425%, and from 0.2% to 100% of respective acute reference dose, respectively. Results of chronic risk characterization show that consumers in Poland are adequately protected; however, incidental cases where residue levels may potentially pose a threat to consumers’ health due to acute exposure cannot be excluded.     

Exposure Elements in Oil Spill Risk and Natural Resource Damage Assessments: A Review

The use of the ecological risk assessment (ERA) framework for assessing effects of oil spills is applicable to the injury assessment component of natural resource damage assessment (NRDA). Central to the ERA process is the assessment of exposure, the critical component linking the release of oil to the assessment of effects. Exposure of biological receptors to the toxic fractions of spilled oil, usually considered the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), requires carefully designed and implemented assessment studies, which are periodically refocused on various environmental pathways and the various biological receptors of concern over the life history of an oil spill from initial release to recovery. As important is the detailed assessment of the exposure regime in the absence of a spill (i.e., the baseline or background exposure). A release of petroleum may not, in itself, equate to an effect on a natural resource. The presence of residual petroleum hydrocarbons does not imply either availability to living organisms or injury to a biological resource. Precise and accurate chemical concentration and compositional data for 2–6 ringed PAHs and alkylated homologues are the key toxicologically important chemical components that are central to the exposure assessment. These principles are illustrated in several oil spill case studies.     

Linking the Use of Scented Consumer Products to Consumer Exposure to Polycyclic Musk Fragrances

Synthetic organic chemicals are ingredients of many consumer products used daily. Consumers are therefore constantly exposed to a broad spectrum of synthetic organic chemicals, which might be irritants or have other effects harmful to human health, in the consumption phase of the product life cycle. Relevant examples are the polycyclic musk fragrances that make up an important group of synthetic fragrance compounds. Using a scenario-based approach, we simulate various product uses and calculate the resulting dermal exposure to the musk fragrances 6-acetyl-1,1,2,4,4,7-hexamethyltetraline and hexahydro-hexamethyl-cyclopenta (γ)-2-benzopyran for a wide spectrum of consumer products. The product spectrum was selected from scented personal care products and household cleansing agents. Exposure to musk fragrances is calculated with two dermal exposure models, and results are presented for female and male European consumers. The variability of required inputs is accounted for by assuming minimal, average or median, and maximal values for important model parameters. The study identifies a limited number of types of scented consumer products as significantly contributing to daily dermal consumer exposure to musk fragrances. Exposure levels resulting from the simultaneous use of these products and the number of exposed consumers are investigated.     

Bayesian Estimation of the Probability of Asbestos Exposure from Lung Fiber Counts

Summary Asbestos exposure is a well‐known risk factor for various lung diseases, and when they occur, workmen's compensation boards need to make decisions concerning the probability the cause is work related. In the absence of a definitive work history, measures of short and long asbestos fibers as well as counts of asbestos bodies in the lung can be used as diagnostic tests for asbestos exposure. Typically, data from one or more lung samples are available to estimate the probability of asbestos exposure, often by comparing the values with those from a reference nonexposed population. As there is no gold standard measure, we explore a variety of latent class models that take into account the mixed discrete/continuous nature of the data, that each subject may provide data from more than one lung sample, and that the within‐subject results across different samples may be correlated. Our methods can be useful to compensation boards in providing individual level probabilities of exposure based on available data, to researchers who are studying the test properties for the various measures used in this area, and more generally, to other test situations with similar data structure.     

Probabilistic Estimation of Regional Dietary Exposure to Dioxins in Fish in Japan on the Basis of Market and Fish Distribution Network Data

Dietary consumption of fish is the greatest contributor to dioxin exposure of the general population in Japan. Unlike with other routes of exposure to dioxins, exposure via foodstuffs does not necessarily occur from local sources. Clarifying the distribution of fish from the catch area to local markets helps to control dioxin exposure from the head of the distribution chain down. We analyzed the data from 30 major central wholesale fish markets to determine both the market share of fish by catch area and the market share of major fish types in fish consumption markets. Probabilistic estimation of dietary exposure of the general population to dioxins in fish was conducted in seven regions in Japan. Probabilistic density functions (PDFs) were assigned to express the variability of data from monitoring of dioxin levels in fish by catch area or by fish type. From histograms of dioxin levels in fish by catch area, the mean and 5th to 95th percentile range of dietary exposure to dioxins in the region with the largest 95th percentile value were estimated, respectively, as 55.5 and 12.9–172.9 pg-TEQ/day. No statistically significant differences in dietary exposure to dioxins in fish were observed among the seven regions. Some specific coastal catch areas and some types of fish that had a greater impact than others on exposure were pinpointed for each region.     

Exposure and Health Risk from Swimming in Outdoor Pools Contaminated by Trichloroethylene

A method was developed that evaluated the exposure and health risk to children from swimming in outdoor pools filled with contaminated water. It was found that dermal absorption of trichloroethylene (TCE) was significantly larger than the inhalation component of the exposures. It was estimated that the inhalation route accounted for only 1% of the total exposure, whereas accidental ingestion was 7% of the child's total intake and the dermal absorbed dose was 92% of the total exposure. The relative percentage of the total exposure estimated for each exposure route indicated that the dermal exposure route and accidental ingestion of pool water should not be ignored for volatile compounds when evaluating exposure.

The method utilized was simple enough to use computer spreadsheets for the calculations and can be easily adapted to various swimming scenarios and age groups. This method also included an assessment of the uncertainty in the exposure and risk estimates. The range of estimated exposures was 40 μ g to 442 μ g of TCE per swimming season. All values in this range were below the health benchmark for both non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic endpoints.     

Trace Elements in Soils and Vegetables from Market Gardens of Urban Areas in Marrakech City

Biological Trace Element Research - The consumption of vegetables grown on soils polluted by trace elements can cause a serious threat for animal and human health and disturb the functioning of the...     

Isotretinoin Exposure and Risk of Celiac Disease

Background

Isotretinoin (13-cis retinoic acid) is a metabolite of vitamin A and has anti-inflammatory and immunoregulatory effects; however, a recent publication by DePaolo et al. demonstrated that in the presence of IL-15, retinoic acid can act as an adjuvant and promote inflammation against dietary proteins.

Objective

To evaluate the risk of overt and latent celiac disease (CD) among users of isotretinoin.

Material and Methods

Medical records of patients from 1995 to 2011 who had a mention of isotretinoin in their records (N = 8393) were searched for CD diagnosis using ICD-09CM codes. Isotretinoin exposure was compared across overt CD patients and their age- and gender-matched controls from the same pool. To evaluate the risk of latent CD with isotretinoin exposure, patients were overlapped with a community-based list of patients with waste serum samples that were tested for CD serology, excluding those with overt CD (2006–2011). Isotretinoin exposure was defined as the use of isotretinoin prior to CD diagnosis or serology.

Results

Of 8393 patients, 25 had a confirmed CD diagnosis. Compared to matched controls (N = 75), isotretinoin exposure was not significantly different between overt CD patients versus controls (36% versus 39%, respectively; P = 0.712). Likewise, latent CD defined as positive serology was not statistically different between isotretinoin exposed (N = 506) versus non-exposed (N = 571) groups (1.8% versus 1.4%, respectively; P = 0.474).

Conclusions

There was no association between isotretinoin use and risk of either overt or latent CD.     

Radiocesium in mushrooms from selected locations in the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic

In this paper, activity concentrations of radiocesium in mushrooms from various locations in the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic in the years 2000–2004 are presented. Summary reports of Czech regulatory bodies have judged the average activity concentrations in mushrooms to be remarkably below the maximum permissible level of contamination. However, there are certain regions where radiocesium activities have approached the maximum permissible level for contamination of basic foodstuff. For example, the highest activity concentration of ¹³⁷Cs measured by gamma-spectrometry was 2,263 Bq kg⁻¹ (on a dry mass basis), in Xerocomus badius from Staré Ransko (a locality in the Czech-Moravian Highlands, Czech Republic). The highest activity concentration of ¹³⁷Cs measured in Slovakia was 966 Bq kg⁻¹ (on a dry mass basis), for Suillus luteus from Senica. For comparison, the corresponding activity concentration in a sample taken within the 30 km zone around Chernobyl was measured to be 6,000 Bq kg⁻¹ (on a dry mass basis). Our results have also demonstrated remarkably lower activity concentrations of ¹³⁷Cs in Slovakia compared to those in the Czech Republic.     

Evaluating Human Risk from Exposure to Alkylated PAHs in an Aquatic System

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a large class of organic chemicals typically found as mixtures in the aquatic environment from natural, petrogenic, and pyrogenic sources. People can be exposed to PAHs through ingestion or dermal contact with contaminated sediments or through ingestion of finfish and shellfish exposed to contaminated sediments. Although more than 100 PAHs have been identified, human exposure and risk are commonly evaluated for 18 individual PAHs. Other PAHs, such as alkylated PAHs, likely contribute to biological activity of environmental PAH mixtures; however, insufficient toxicity data are available to quantify their potential risk. This article presents an initial evaluation of the potential for human health risk from exposure to alkylated PAHs in sediment and fish. Individual alkylated PAHs have been observed to have potentially mutagenic, tumor-promoting, or carcinogenic activity. However, except for 1-and 2-methylnaphthalene, insufficient toxicity data are available to quantify toxicity or cancer risk from exposure to individual alkylated PAHs or mixtures of alkylated PAHs. This article describes a proposed strategy to better understand the potential human health risk from exposure to alkylated PAHs. Implementation of this strategy will contribute to evaluations of human exposure to complex PAH mixtures in the environment.     

Flows of Chemical Risk Information in the Consumer Paint Product Chain

In this study the flows of chemical risk information for paint as a consumer product were investigated from a product chain perspective. The main method of research involved semi‐structured interviews with Swedish manufacturers of paint and chemicals. In addition, retailers and consumers were interviewed. The flows of chemical risk information between actors within (e.g., manufacturers, retailers, and consumers) and outside (e.g., industry associations and regulators) the paint product chain are described. Because the European chemical legislation REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and restriction of CHemicals) plays a large role in the management of chemical risk information at companies, some consequences of REACH on actors in the paint product chain are described. Examples of such consequences are that importing of chemicals from non–European Union (EU) countries may be discouraged and that some low‐volume chemicals may no longer be produced. However, manufacturers do not yet see these consequences as impediments to innovation. The results of this work show that chemical risk information is most comprehensive during the manufacturing steps of the product chain. This is due not only to tradition and industry initiatives, but also to REACH and other legislation. The results also illustrate the need for evaluation of how chemical risk information is used in different contexts and the importance of directing the right information at the right target group. Following legislative development, more specialized information is required in the safety data sheet (SDS), and because of this many manufacturers find it necessary to create simplified safety sheets that make the most pertinent safety and hazard information easily accessible to individuals that handle the chemicals in their factories. The study found that in creating the simplified safety sheets, the content and use of chemical risk information is evaluated and adjusted for presentation to this particular target group. It is evident that the Swedish Paint and Printing Ink Makers Association plays an important role in the interpretation of legal requirements and even in agreements for providing information that exceeds legal requirements.     

Investigation of Volatile Components in Wines from Koshu and Zenkoji Grapes

A 3-hydroxyethyl-4-cyanoazetidin-2-one derivative (2) was synthesized from (2R,3R)-potassium 2,3-epoxybutyrate through two steps, and it was then further converted to a diazo derivative (7).     

Volatile Components Identified in the Acidic Fractions of Wines from Koshu and Zenkoji Grapes

The induction and mechanism of fatty liver in the rat by the synthetic carcinogen 2-acetylaminofluorene (AAF) were investigated.

The induction of this fatty liver was dose and time dependent, being gradually increased by the intake of a 0.05% AAF diet for 3 weeks. The AAF dosage was found to increase the activity of drug-metabolizing enzymes (p-nitroanisol demethylase and aniline hydroxylase) and to decrease the activity of pyruvate kinase and α-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase. The AAF dosage had no effect on the incorporation of [l-¹⁴C]acetate into the lipid fraction during in vitro incubation of liver slices. The supplement of adenine to the AAF diet had no effect on the accumulation of liver lipid.

It is suggested from the result of treatment with Triton WR-1339 that a block in the secretion of triglyceride from the liver is a major cause of the induction of fatty liver by AAF.     

Collection and Dissemination of Exposure Data Throughout the Chemical Value Chain: A Case Study from a Global Consumer Product Industry

The human and environmental safety of chemicals in formulated consumer products has for decades been important for product manufacturers and ingredient suppliers. However, prior to the mid-1990s, the underlying product safety data were largely not publicly available. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Chemical Right-to-Know Program and a related program of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development have since been the catalysts for the broad dissemination of standardized hazard datasets for thousands of high production volume (HPV) chemicals in commerce around the globe. The formulated consumer products industry took the additional step of developing and summarizing the science around exposure to their products, largely cleaning products and personal care products, in order to be able to characterize and communicate the safety of their products. Perhaps even more significant was the collection and circulation of information surrounding the habits and practices of product use, and ingredient concentrations in products. The objective of this article is to detail the methods used for collection of this information by the American Cleaning Institute (ACI), and the process by which hazard and exposure information may be used in screening-level risk assessments. These data and methods appear in a number of ACI's publications (http://www.aciscience.org).     

Croatian Wines from Native Grape Varieties Have Higher Distinct Phenolic (Nutraceutic) Profiles than Wines from Non‐Native Varieties with the Same Geographic Origin

Croatian wines made from native (Plavac mali and Teran) and non‐native grape varieties (Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot), all grown in Croatian coastal regions, were investigated. Analyses included measurements of antioxidant activities, total phenolic contents and concentrations of non‐colored phenolic compounds, chosen based on their known nutraceutical properties. Plavac mali wines were distinguished by higher antioxidant activity, total phenolic content and catechin concentrations but lower flavonol concentrations. Teran wines had higher hydroxytyrosol, myricetin and resveratrol concentrations. Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon wines had higher flavonol concentrations (except myricetin). Canonical analysis was successful in discriminating Plavac mali from Teran wines, and both varieties were separated from non‐native varieties. The results indicate distinct genetic potentials of studied varieties and enable wine authentication based on the investigated bioactive compounds.     

Assessment of Carcinogenic Risk and Non-Carcinogenic Health Hazard from Exposure to Toxicants in Water from the Southwestern Coastal River System in Ghana

This study evaluated cancer risk and non-cancer human health hazard from exposure to the toxicants such as As, Cu, Pb, Zn, Mn, and CN in water from a southwestern river system in Ghana that drains through gold mining areas, using 108 water samples collected with random sampling techniques and analyzed in accordance with standard methods of chemical analysis outlined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). The concentrations of Cu and Zn were within World Health Organization and USEPA guideline values; Mn, free cyanide, As, and Pb values in most cases either exceeded USEPA and WHO values or both. The concentrations of the toxicants were used as input parameters in the cancer and non-cancer study that was conducted in line with USEPA risk assessment guidelines. The results of As cancer health risk revealed higher risk cases in two locations (Potroase and Dominase); non-cancer health risk for As was higher in 10 of the 14 locations, with other metals being of health concern at few locations in the study area. In conclusion, the findings of this study hold several policy implications as residents of mining communities still depend on these water bodies as their source of drinking water.     

Estimation of Attributable Risk in the Presence of Confounding

LEVIN 's attributable risk due to a risk factor is estimated in the presence of confounding in the retrospective study context. The crude attributable risk is decomposed into the attributable risk due to a risk factor and a bias factor which is shown to vanish only when the confounding factor is unassociated to either the risk factor or the Disease or to both. Asymptotic tests are provided for testing interaction, and an appropriate pooled estimate is derived when constancy of partial attributable risks prevails over the levels of the confounding factor.