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PubMed1981

Leptospirosis in trout farmers.

A worker on a trout farm died from serologically confirmed leptospirosis. Four other workers at the trout farm had recently had an influenza-like illness; one had had jaundice. The man with jaundice had high leptospiral antibody titres, and two others had titres of 1/30. The remaining serum sample was negative. Family members and neighbours not associated with the farm had no detectable leptospiral antibodies. There was evidence of rat infestation around the ponds and in a shed used for storing trout food. Pond water or trout food contaminated with rat urine is believed to have been responsible for the outbreak. Another case occurred in a fish farmer elsewhere and it is thought he was infected through wading in rat polluted water with defective rubber boots. A survey to determine the incidence of leptospirosis in fish farm workers is under way.

Animal Feed↗
PubMed2006

Relative toxicological importance of aqueous and dietary metal exposure to a freshwater crustacean: implications for risk assessment.

Aquatic organisms can take up toxicants from water (aqueous exposure) and from food (dietary exposure), yet current environmental regulations often fail to consider the toxic effects of dietary exposure. Such unrealistic exposure scenarios may lead to ineffective water-quality standards or discharge consents that fail to provide adequate protection of the receiving water. Both dietary and aqueous exposure routes contributed to the bioaccumulation of zinc by Gammarus pulex, and both influenced the lethal and sublethal effects of zinc exposure. However, little concordance was found between body burden and magnitude of effect on feeding rate, and the duration of the postexposure response differed between exposure routes. Feeding inhibition, resulting from water-only or simultaneous aqueous and dietary exposure, persisted after the contaminant was removed, but feeding inhibition resulting from dietary exposure alone did not. These results imply that whereas aqueous exposure resulted in either irreversible or slowly reversible physiological damage, feeding inhibition in response to dietary zinc exposure involved an avoidance response. Water-only exposure studies underestimated the effects of simultaneous exposure to contaminated food and contaminated water. Therefore, regarding compounds for which dietary exposure is important, regulatory toxicity tests should either incorporate dietary exposure routes or be subjected to an additional uncertainty factor.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

[A clinical analysis of 117 cases of acute arsenic poisoning].

117 cases of acute arsenic poisoning, caused by ingestion of food contaminated by As2O2, presented with abdominal pain, vomiting, nausea and diarrhea. The average level of urinary arsenic was 3.926 mg/L. The incidence of neuritis, poisoning hepatopathy and abdominal ECG was respectively 7.7%, 32.54%, 35.9%. All the cases recovered after oral or parenteral administration of dimecapto succinate (DMS) in six weeks. DMS is the drug of choice in the treatment of arsenic poisoning.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Mercury-influence on biochemical processes of the human organism.

Heavy metals are too well-known environmental pollutants of particularly serious health hazard to human health because of the effects of their actions are not immediate, but they show up after many years. Due to their wide usage in many industrial branches they are present everywhere in the air, water and soil. Food contaminant by heavy elements is hard to avoid and it is a result of environmental contamination by dusts, industrial gases, sewage, waste and coal burning processes. The content of heavy metals in the environment is quite diverse and their harmful action depends on the type of element, the chemical form of their occurrence and the state of organism's nutrition. One of the very toxic and also very frequently used heavy metal is mercury. Exposure to mercury can cause immune, sensory, neurological, motor and behavioral dysfunctions.

Environmental Exposure↗
PubMed2001

Dietary uptake and elimination of selected polychlorinated biphenyl congeners and hexachlorobenzene in earthworms.

Earthworms (Eisenia foetida) were given food contaminated with hexachlorobenzene (HxCBz) and 20 tetra- to heptachlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The PCBs were selected to cover a wide range of physicochemical properties. The uptake efficiencies, uptake rate constants, and elimination rate constants in worms varied between the 20 PCBs. The uptake efficiencies were between 10 and 68%. The PCBs that were eliminated fastest contained few chlorine atoms, had more polar characteristics, and were sterically hindered. Slowest was the elimination for less polar PCBs with six or seven chlorine atoms such as the non-ortho-substituted PCB 169. Elimination half-lives varied between 6 and 25 d. The biomagnification factors (BMFs) for the PCBs and HxCBz averaged 0.1 based on lipids and 0.04 based on wet (worms) and dry (food) weight. Worm cocoons were analyzed for PCBs for the first time. The PCB pattern in the cocoons differed from the adult worms by the comparatively higher load of non-ortho PCBs. By studying congeners covering a large range of PCB physicochemical characteristics, their fate within the environmental and the factors influencing biological responses can be better understood.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Induction of apoptosis by fumonisin B1 in HT29 cells is mediated by the accumulation of endogenous free sphingoid bases.

Fumonisin B1 (FB1) and aminopentol (AP1) (which is formed by hydrolysis of FB1) are found in corn contaminated with some strains of Fusarium moniliforme. Incubation of HT29 cells (a human colonic cell line) with FB1 or AP1 caused a significant reduction in cell number; AP1 was less potent, with 50 microM AP1 causing the same reduction (ca. 30% after 24 h) as 10 microM FB1. The reduction in cell number reflected increases in DNA fragmentation and the percentage of apoptotic cells. Both FB1 and AP1 caused the accumulation of sphinganine (25- and 35-fold by 10 microM FB1 and 50 microM AP1, respectively); thus, concentrations of FB1 and AP1 that caused comparable reductions in cell number were also similar with respect to elevation of sphinganine, a compound that is growth inhibitory and cytotoxic. Inhibition of the first step of sphingolipid biosynthesis with ISP-1 prevented the elevation in sphinganine, DNA fragmentation, and apoptosis induced by FB1. Therefore, these effects of FB1 on HT29 cells can be attributed to the accumulation of sphinganine. Since consumption of food contaminated with Fusarium moniliforme (Sheldon) exposes colonic cells to these mycotoxins, the possibility that FB1 and AP1 are toxic for intestinal cells in vivo should be evaluated, especially in the light of the recent report (Bhat et al., Clin. Toxicol. 35, 249, 1997) describing intestinal disturbances in humans after consumption of moldy corn and sorghum containing fumonisins.

Antifungal Agents↗
PubMedDate not supplied

FDA Total Diet Study, July 1986-April 1991, dietary intakes of pesticides, selected elements, and other chemicals.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration conducts the Total Diet Study to determine dietary intakes of selected pesticides, industrial chemicals, and elements (including radionuclides). This paper reports results for the sampling period July 1986 to April 1991. The study involves retail purchase of foods representative of the ¿total diet¿ of the U.S. population, preparation for ¿table-ready¿ consumption, and individual analyses of 234 items making up the diets of 8 population groups. The diets were based on 2 nationwide food consumption surveys. The data presented represent 21 food collections (also termed ¿market baskets¿) in regional metropolitan areas during the 5-year period. Dietary intakes of nearly 120 analytes are presented for 8 population groups, which range from infants to elderly adults. Intakes of selected population groups are compared with representative findings from earlier Total Diet Study sampling periods. As reported previously, average daily intakes are well below acceptable limits.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Migration from plasticized films into foods. 6. Hydrolysis of polymeric plasticizers under simulated gastric and intestinal conditions.

The polymeric plasticizers poly(butylene adipate) and poly(propylene adipate), and a low molecular weight oligomer fraction from each, were exposed in vitro to simulated gastric and intestinal hydrolysis in order to study their likely fate after ingestion of foods contaminated by migration from plastics packaging. Analysis for loss of the parent compounds indicated that partial hydrolysis occurred under simulated gastric conditions, with the low molecular weight oligomers being the most susceptible. Analysis for one of the starting materials, adipic acid, revealed however that the hydrolysis did not result in a significant conversion to free monomer under either simulated gastric or intestinal conditions. This is explained on the basis of partial hydrolysis of the plasticizers to smaller oligomer units but with the more resistant ester linkages resisting complete breakdown to monomer.

Adipates↗
PubMed2007

PCDD/F levels in plasma of a belgian population before and after the 1999 belgian PCB/DIOXIN incident.

We evaluated the impact of the 1999 Belgian dioxin incident on the blood plasma polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin (PCDD) and polychlorinated dibenzofuran (PCDF) levels among 232 Belgian blood donors (74% men, mean age 47 years). The Red Cross made plasma samples from before the incident of these donors available. A second plasma sample was collected during the second half of 2000. The sum of the 17 PCDD/F congeners was significantly lower in 2000 compared to 1998 (417 pg/g fat versus 445 pg/g fat, respectively). This could be completely attributed to the significant decrease of OctaCDD (301 pg/g fat in 2000 versus 277 pg/g fat in 1998). Moreover a slight but significant decrease was observed for 2,3,7,8-TetraCDF and for 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HeptaCDF. 1,2,3,7,8-PentaCDF and 2,3,4,7,8-PentaCDF however showed a slight but significant increase (respective levels in 1998 were 0.004 and 14.5 pg/g fat compared to 0.006 and 17.9 pg/g fat in 2000). Given their significantly higher presence in incident related food samples this increase can be attributed to the food contamination episode. However, the total toxicity remained unchanged (22.9 in 1998 versus 23.1 pg WHO-TEQ/g fat, p>0.05). Moreover the observed congener profiles and the total PCDD/F levels were similar to those of other European non-occupationally exposed populations. In conclusion, the 1999 PCB/dioxin incident was traceable in the plasma profiles (rise of the two specific PCDF congeners), but comparison of the results for both years indicates that the changes were too small to cause an adverse public health effect.

Belgium↗
PubMed1965

COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF FIVE SELECTIVE AND DIFFERENTIAL MEDIA FOR THE DETECTION AND ENUMERATION OF COAGULASE-POSITIVE STAPHYLOCOCCI IN FOODS.

Five selective media for the detection and enumeration of coagulase-positive staphylococci were evaluated for their efficiency in the recovery of 17 strains of coagulase-positive staphylococci from foods. They were Staphylococcus Medium 110 (SM-110), tellurite-glycine-agar (TGA), egg-tellurite-glycine-pyruvate-agar (ETGPA), tellurite-egg-agar (TEA), and tellurite-polymyxin-egg yolk-agar (TPEY). Statistical analysis by the rank correlation method of the efficiency with which these media recovered staphylococci from pure 24-hr Brain Heart Infusion cultures revealed the following efficiencies in descending order: (i) TPEY, (ii) ETGPA, (iii) TGA, (iv) TEA, (v) SM-110. Growth of 17 strains of coagulase-negative cocci on these media showed the following approximate descending order of inhibition to these organisms: (i) ETGPA, (ii) TEA, (iii) SM-110, (iv) TGA, (v) TPEY. The appearance of colonies of the various coagulase-negative strains on each medium was studied for the degree to which they could be confused with colonies of coagulase-positive strains. Nineteen food contaminants, including Proteus vulgaris, Bacillus sp., Escherichia coli, Erwinia sp., fecal streptococci, and others, were also studied for similarities in appearance to staphylococci and for ability to grow on the selective media. The influence of five sterile food homogenates (frozen chicken and tuna pies, custard, smoked ham, and raw whole egg) on recovery of 1,500 enterotoxigenic staphylococci (three strains) per milliliter was determined by statistical analysis. Three main effects (culture, media, and food) and three interactions (media with food, food with cultures, and media with culture) were found to be significant. Recovery on TPEY was influenced less by food than the other selective media and showed optimal recovery ability from sterile custard, eggs, and ham. TGA recovered well from sterile chicken pie and custard, SM-110 from sterile custard, and TEA from sterile ham. None of the media was outstanding in recovering staphylococci from tuna pie. The ability of the five selective media to recover 1,500 enterotoxigenic staphylococci (three strains) per ml from three sterile foods in the presence of 10 strains of contaminating bacteria added at the 0, 10(5), and 10(6) levels per milliliter was also studied and analyzed statistically. Only three factors were significant under these conditions-cultures, foods, and the interaction of media with the level of added contamination. Efficiency of recovery of TGA, SM-110, and ETGPA was found not to be dependent upon the level of contamination. Recovery on TPEY decreased with increases in the number of contaminants. TEA increased in efficiency at the 10(5) level, but decreased at the 10(6) level. When recovery on Trypticase Soy Agar was considered to be 100%, the average percentage of recovery by each of the selective media under all experimental conditions was determined.

Agar↗
PubMed1999

Identification of risk groups for intake of food chemicals.

This paper summarizes by four recent examples the procedure of the characterization of groups at risk for ingestion of food chemicals and its limitations. The examples concern two food additives (sulfites and aspartame), one nutrient (calcium), and one food contaminant (patuline). On the one hand, results show that the empirical description of a group at risk is nowadays the best way to provide to risk managers information useful for consumer protection. On the other hand, these examples show that in any case if risk 0 does not exist, it is impossible to completely avoid any group at risk. The responsibility of risk managers is to decide what is the minimum size of the population to protect as a function of the risk and of the cost of the protection.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Evaluation of 1,3-pentadiene for mutagenicity by the Salmonella/mammalian microsome assay.

1,3-Pentadiene, a food contaminant produced by some molds when they metabolize sorbic acid, was tested for mutagenicity, using variations of the Salmonella/mammalian microsome assay. The chemical was incorporated into the test system (with and without S9 mix) by 3 methods: (a) the standard plate incorporation assay, (b) a liquid preincubation procedure and (c) exposure of test bacteria in the soft agar overlay to gaseous 1,3-pentadiene. The chemical was extremely toxic to the test bacteria with amounts as low as 2.0 microgram/plate causing cell death. However, none of the nonlethal concentrations tested by any of the methods was mutagenic to Salmonella typhimurium strains TA97, TA98, TA100, TA1535, TA1537 or TA1538.

Alkadienes↗
PubMed2005

[Gnathostomiasis: an emerging parasitic disease?].

INTRODUCTION: Human gnathostomiasis is a parasitic disease caused by the ingestion of foods contaminated with the larvae of various species of Gnathostoma. This zoonosis is currently endemic in Asia and Central America. CASE REPORT: A 46-year-old French woman resident in Vietnam presented with intermittent pruritic swelling of the hand, present for one year, coupled with eosinophilia. The patient's history and serological testing confirmed the suspected diagnosis of gnathostomiasis. A favorable outcome was attained on treatment with albendazole. DISCUSSION: This case, together with several others recently reported in France and Europe, underlines the need to inform travelers and migrants to endemic regions of the risks associated with eating raw or marinated fish.

Albendazole↗
PubMed2005

V79-hCYP2E1-hSULT1A1, a cell line for the sensitive detection of genotoxic effects induced by carbohydrate pyrolysis products and other food-borne chemicals.

We recently constructed a Chinese hamster V79-derived cell line that stably expresses human cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2E1 and human sulphotransferase (SULT) 1A1. These enzymes are involved in the bioactivation of numerous promutagens/procarcinogens, but are not taken into account in standard in vitro mutagenicity assays. Various carbohydrate pyrolysis products and other food contaminants that induce tumours or preneoplastic lesions in laboratory animals are inactive or only weakly active in standard in vitro genotoxicity assays. This is the case for acrylamide, furan, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, nitrofen and N-nitrosodimethylamine. These compounds were investigated for induction of sister chromatid exchange (SCE) in V79-hCYP2E1-hSULT1A1 cells. All test compounds showed positive results over a wide concentration range, starting at 0.01 microM for N-nitrosodimethylamine, 3 microM for furan, 12.5 microM for nitrofen, 20 microM for 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, and 200 microM for acrylamide. The concentration-response curve of furan was unusual, as this compound induced a statistically significant, but rather constant and weak increase in SCE over an extremely wide concentration range (3-16,000 microM). Furan was slightly less active, whereas the remaining compounds were much less active in the parental V79 cell line than in V79-hCYP2E1-hSULT1A1 cells. Compared to many other genotoxic effects, the study of SCE only requires small numbers of cells (and incubation volumes) and usually is detected even at low concentrations of the genotoxicant. Therefore, induction of SCE in V79-hCYP2E1-hSULT1A1 cells may be useful in the genotoxicity testing of preparations of heated food and in their bioassay-directed fractionation.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The Belgian PCB/dioxin incident: a critical review of health risks evaluations.

The Belgian PCB/dioxin incident is a food contamination that occurred in Belgium in January 1999 when a tank of recycled fats used to produce animal feeds was accidentally contaminated by approximately 100 L of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) oil containing 50 kg PCBs expressed as the sum of the seven markers, 1 g (TEQ) dioxins (PCDD/Fs) and 2 g toxic equivalent (TEQ) dioxin-like PCBs. The incident was discovered when a poultry poisoning resembling the classic chick edema disease broke out in several farms that had received contaminated feeds. The delay in making public this incident resulted in a major political and food crisis and caused much concern in the population. We review here the health risk evaluations that were made after this incident and we assess the likelihood of the different scenarios by taking into account recent data on the real scale of the contamination and on the dioxin body burden of the general population in Belgium. These new data confirm that the incident was too limited in time and in scale to have increased the PCB/dioxin body burden of the general population at large, a conclusion supported by a survey of dioxin levels in blood conducted at the end of 1999. Only farmers in poultry farms affected by the incident (about 30 farms) and having regularly consumed their own products could have increased their PCB/dioxin body burden. It is unlikely, however, that these farmers could have increased their PCB/dioxin body burden above levels prevailing in the 1980s or now found in communities regularly consuming seafood.

Accidents↗
PubMed2004

Detection of sodium channel activators by a rapid fluorimetric microplate assay.

Marine toxins such as brevetoxins and ciguatoxins are produced by dinoflagellates and can accumulate in seafood. These toxins affect humans through seafood consumption. Intoxication is mainly characterized by gastrointestinal and neurological disorders and, in most severe cases, by cardiovascular problems. To prevent the consumption of food contaminated with these toxins, shellfish have been tested by mouse bioassay. However, this method is expensive, time-consuming, and ethically questionable. The objective of this study was to use a recently developed fluorimetric microplate assay to rapidly detect brevetoxins and ciguatoxins. The method is based on the pharmacological effect of brevetoxins and ciguatoxins known to activate sodium channels and involves (i). the incubation of excitable cells in 96 well microtiter plates with the fluorescent dye bis-oxonol, whose distribution across the membrane is potential-dependent, and (ii). dose-dependent cell depolarization by the toxins. Our findings demonstrate that measuring changes in membrane potential induced by brevetoxins and ciguatoxins allowed their quantitation. Active toxins could be reliably detected at concentrations in the nanomolar range. The simplicity, sensitivity, and possibility of being automated provide the basis for development of a practical alternative to conventional testing for brevetoxins and ciguatoxins.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

How does Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis resist intracellular degradation?

Paratuberculosis is a chronic, progressive disease of mainly ruminants caused by the facultative intracellular bacterium, Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis. Infection usually occurs in young animals through oral uptake of food contaminated with the organisms. The ingested bacteria are transcytosed through M-cells overlying the Peyer's patches and are released in the stroma, where they are taken up by macrophages. Inside the macrophage, the mycobacteria resist enzymatic and toxic degradation and multiply until the infected macrophage ruptures. The thick, lipid-rich cell envelope is mainly responsible for micobacterial resistance. In addition to its barrier effect, which provides protections, the mycobacterial cell wall also contains several biologically active components that down-regulate the bactericidal function of macrophages. The basic survival strategy of pathogenic mycobacteria can be viewed at three levels: selective use of relatively safe entry pathways that do not trigger oxidative attack, modification of the intracellular trafficking of mycobacteria-containing phagosomes, and modulation of the cooperation between the innate and specific immunity. In doing so, pathogenic mycobacteria are successful intracellular organisms that survive and multiply inside macrophages. Current understanding about the survival strategies of M. a. paratuberculosis and its implications in the epidemiology, diagnosis, and control of the disease are discussed.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Analytical quality assurance for the WHO GEMS/Food-EURO programme--results of 1993/94 laboratory proficiency testing.

As a means of assessing the performance of European laboratories who contribute analytical data on food contamination to the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Environmental Monitoring Scheme (GEMS), a series of five proficiency testing exercises were carried out during 1993 and 1994. In total 136 laboratories from 21 different countries took part in one or more of the exercises which covered the analysis of trace elements (lead, cadmium and mercury) in milk powder, pesticides (organochlorine, organophosphorus and pyrethroid) in spinach powder, nitrate in spinach powder, aflatoxins in nut-based animal feed and patulin in apple juices. The proficiency testing was carried out according to the ISO/IUPAC/AOAC INTERNATIONAL Harmonized Protocol and laboratories were awarded z-scores signifying their analytical capability based on their reported results for each of the respective exercises. Overall 60% of laboratories were satisfactory for accuracy for trace element analysis, 41% for pesticides, 43% for nitrate, 88% for aflatoxins and 53% for patulin. These results gave an overall poorer performance (68%) than the average for other similar schemes (79%), indicating the need for care in collating data for such programmes as GEMS and the need for remedial measures to assist in improving performance.

Aflatoxin B1↗