Human exposure in Italy to lead,cadmium and mercury through fish and seafood product consumption from Eastern Central Atlantic Fishing Area

The presence of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and mercury (Hg) was investigated in fish and seafood products collected from the FAO Major Fishing Area 34, Eastern Central Atlantic. Samples were purchased from different retail outlets in Italy. Samples were selected so as to assess human exposure through diet. Metals were detected by Q-ICP-MS and Hg-AAS. All the metal concentrations detected were largely below the maximum levels (MLs) established by the European Union. The exposure assessment was undertaken by matching the concentration of Cd, Pb and total Hg in fish and other seafood products selected purposed according to Italian consumption data. The estimated weekly intakes (EWIs) for the evaluated elements related to the consumption of fish and other seafood products by the median of the Italian total population accounted for 14%, 2% and 14% of the standard tolerable weekly intake (TWI) for Cd and Hg as well as the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) for Pb, respectively.     

A Brazilian Total Diet Study: Evaluation of essential elements

Total Diet Study (TDS) has been adopted worldwide and is based on the evaluation of food samples representing a Market Basket, which shows dietary habits of a large-scale population. This TDS presents results of the element concentrations, daily dietary intakes and contributions to the total daily intake of essential elements, Na, K, Ca, Fe, Zn and Cr in 30 food groups of a Market Basket of São Paulo State, Brazil. The methodology for the first Brazilian TDS for the São Paulo State population and its respective Market Basket was developed. Food consumption data and information were obtained from the National Household Food Budget Survey, Pesquisa de Orçamentos Familiares (POF) 2002–2003 conducted by the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics, which includes 5440 foods. The selection criteria to carry out the Market Basket were the foods consumed at more than 2 g/day/person, which represented 72% of the total weight of the foods for this population. Element concentrations were determined by instrumental neutron activation analysis and ranged in mg kg⁻¹ as follows: Na: 1.5–256,185; K: 0.51–532; Ca: 22–1827; Fe: 0.08–49; Zn: 0.030–98; and in μg kg⁻¹ Cr: 2.6–799. The dietary intakes contributed by the Market Basket were: 1928 mg/day⁻¹ Na; 861 mg/day⁻¹ K; 275 mg/day⁻¹ Ca; 5.70 mg/day⁻¹ Fe; 4.25 mg/day⁻¹ Zn and 20.7 μg/day⁻¹ Cr. The observed low levels are probably due to the fact that Market Basket represented 72% of the weight of the household consumed foods. The highest contributions to the total intake of the essential elements were: salts, 78.9% of Na; breads, 36.9% of Fe and 46.4% of Cr; cereals, 18.7% of Zn; and milk/cream, 58.7% of Ca and 23.6% of K.     

Element content and daily intake from dietary supplements (nutraceuticals) based on algae,garlic, yeast fish and krill oils—Should consumers be worried?

The element content of sixty seven food supplements falling into five different categories was determined with an Agilent 8800 Triple Quadrupole ICP-MS and the maximum daily intake calculated. The determined elements were: Rb, Cs, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, V, Cr, Mn, Fe Co, Cu, Zn, Mo, Se, I, Br, B, Al, As, Cd, Sb and Pb. The majority of supplements contained significantly less essential elements than the recommended daily intake. Exceptions were two algae based products leading to a very high iron intake. The use of 3 other algae based products would result in increased iodine intake. Of the non-essential elements determined the intake of inorganic arsenic from all supplements was below the limit set by ANSI 173, but several algae based and one garlic based supplement contained levels of inorganic arsenic above the limit set in China for food supplements. Generally garlic, fish oil and krill oil based products pose little risk of inadvertent increased intake of essential and non-essential elements. Algae based products can lead to intakes above the recommended limits for specific elements and generally contain higher amounts of all elements. None of the tested food supplements poses a direct risk to healthy adults.     

2010-2016年内蒙古自治区肉及肉制品中食源性致病菌监测

目的 了解2010-2016年内蒙古自治区肉及肉制品中食源性致病菌污染状况,评价其存在的主要危害因素,为预防和控制食源性疾病提供科学依据。方法 随机采集市售肉及肉制品样品,根据《国家食品污染物和有害因素风险监测工作手册》标准操作程序,监测单核细胞增生李斯特氏菌、金黄色葡萄球菌、沙门氏菌、大肠埃希氏菌O157〖DK〗∶H7、致泻大肠埃希氏菌和弯曲菌等6种常见食源性致病菌。结果 3759份样品中共检出485株阳性菌株,致病菌总检出率为12.90%。其中单核细胞增生李斯特氏菌污染较严重,检出率为7.21%(255/3539),空肠弯曲菌次之,检出率为3.51%(13/370),金黄色葡萄球菌、沙门氏菌、致泻大肠埃希氏菌和大肠埃希氏菌O157〖DK〗∶H7检出率分别为2.98%(92/3089)、2.95 %(111/3759)、1.20%(12/998)和0.11%(2/1830)。各类食品总检出率范围为2.89%~34.78%,调理肉制品检出率最高,熟肉制品最低。结论 肉及肉制品食源性致病菌污染率较高,存在导致食源性疾病的潜在危险。     

The content of selected minerals and vitamin C for potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.) from the high Tiber Valley area,southeast Tuscany

Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.) from the high Tiber valley area (TVA; Tuscany, Italy), have been sampled and analyzed for selected mineral content (Na, Mg, K, Ca, and Mn, Fe, Cu and Zn) and vitamin C, the year 2012; some samples from 2011 and 2013 crops were also collected and analyzed. The varieties were Daytona (DAY), Kennebec (KEN), Sifra (SIF) and Volare (VOL). Control samples consisted of mixed commercial varieties from the local market, namely C1, C2 and C3. The low content of sodium, especially for KEN (46 ± 3 mg/kg FD (freeze dry), year 2012) and SIF (47 ± 3) (VOL (55 ± 3) and DAY (61 ± 3) have a little higher values) is worth of note and in agreement with the scarce concentration of Na in the soil (291 ± 12 mg/kg DM). Magnesium was abundant in KEN (1434 ± 75 mg/kg FD, year 2012) and VOL (1334 ± 70). The content of K for DAY and KEN (13,147 ± 900 and 13,185 ± 900 mg/kg FD) was higher than for VOL and SIF; whereas Ca was in the range 340 ± 16–490 ± 28 mg/kg FD. The contents of Cu and Zn were higher in KEN (8.1 ± 0.3 and 25 ± 1 mg/kg FD) when compared to the other varieties and controls. The content of vitamin C is high for KEN and SIF and decreased significantly upon cooking (50% for KEN).     

Optimization of microwave-assisted extraction procedure for zinc and copper determination in food samples by Box-Behnken design

This article describes the application of response surface methodology (RSM) to the development of a procedure for zinc and copper determination by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) in food samples after extraction by a microwave system. A Box-Behnken matrix was used to find optimal conditions for the procedure through a response surface study. Three variables “irradiation power; time; and temperature” were regarded as factors in the optimization study. The working conditions were established as a compromise between optimum values found for each analyte taking into consideration the robustness of the procedure. These values were 97 °C, 90 W and 9.0 min, for temperature, irradiation power and time, respectively. The accuracy of the optimized procedure was evaluated by the analysis of certified reference materials. The method was applied to the determination of copper and zinc in wheat flour and corn flour samples.     

Simultaneous analysis of 21 elements in foodstuffs by ICP-MS after closed-vessel microwave digestion: Method validation

This paper describes a validation process for the simultaneous analysis of 21 elements: lithium (Li), aluminium (Al), vanadium (V), manganese (Mn), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), gallium (Ga), germanium (Ge), arsenic (As), strontium (Sr), molybdenum (Mo), silver (Ag), cadmium (Cd), tin (Sn), antimony (Sb), tellurium (Te), barium (Ba), mercury (Hg) and lead (Pb) in food samples by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) after closed-vessel microwave digestion. This validation was realized in parallel with the analysis of the 1322 food samples of the second French Total Diet Study (TDS) by the National Reference Laboratory (NRL) of the French Food Safety Agency (AFSSA). Several criteria such as linearity, limits of quantification (LOQ), specificity, precision under repeatability conditions and intermediate precision reproducibility were evaluated. Furthermore, the method was supervised by several internal and external quality controls (IQC and EQC). Results indicate that this method could be used in the laboratory for the routine determination of these 21 essential and non-essential elements in foodstuffs with acceptable analytical performance.     

Spectrophotometric method for determination of aluminium content in water and beverage samples employing flow-batch sequential injection system

A sensitive, precise and reliable flow-batch method for the determination of aluminium (Al) was developed using a sequential injection-monosegmented flow system incorporating a mixing chamber unit. Eriochrome cyanine R (ECR) was used as a chromogenic reagent in the presence of N,N-dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB). The Al-ECR complex at pH 6 gave a maximum absorption at 584 nm. In-line single standard calibration and a standard addition procedure were developed employing the monosegmented flow technique. Under the optimum conditions, a linear calibration graph in the range of 0.0075–0.625 mg L⁻¹ Al was obtained with limits of detection and quantitation of 0.0020 and 0.0070 mg L⁻¹, respectively. Relative standard deviations were 0.8 and 1.3% for 0.010 and 0.025 mg L⁻¹ Al (n = 11), respectively. A sample throughput of 24 h⁻¹ using an in-line standard calibration approach and 6 h⁻¹ using four standard addition levels was achieved. The developed system was successfully applied to water samples and beverage samples. The results agreed well with those obtained from the ICP-AES method. Good recoveries between 85 and 104% were obtained.     

Rapid assessment of metal contamination in commercial fruit juices by inductively coupled mass spectrometry after a simple dilution

A simple and fast method for the determination of Ca, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, Pb, Rb, Sr, V and Zn in fruit juices samples, by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) after only a sample dilution, is proposed. For comparison, the samples were also digested with nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide in a microwave oven. The same conditions could be used for aqueous standard solution and diluted sample and the sensitivity was similar in both media, thus external calibration against aqueous standard solutions could be used for quantification. The results were in agreement with those obtained after digestion, according to the t-test at a 95% confidence level. The good accuracy was also confirmed by the recovery test. The precision expressed by the relative standard deviation (RSD) was between 1 and 3%. The detection limits were between 0.1 (Pb) and 2000 μg L⁻¹ (Ca). Similar values for detection limits and RSD were obtained after sample digestion or when the internal standard was not used. The compositions of 20 samples were evaluated by multivariate analysis techniques: principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), showing that samples are grouped by the brand and not by the fruit, what could be due to soil characteristics where the plant was grown and to the different processing and storage conditions used by the different brands, including water and additives.