Extended evaluation of urinary multi-biomarker analyses of mycotoxins in Swedish adults and children

Abstract

Biomarker-based methods are being more and more used to assess dietary exposure of mycotoxins in a population. The aim of the present study was to perform an extended analysis of urinary multiple mycotoxin levels and associations with background characteristics and food groups. Exposure assessment calculations were performed on three urine mycotoxins as described below and the probable daily intake (PDI) was compared with the established tolerable daily intake (TDI) to uncover potential exposure risks. The study population consisted of 250 adults and 50 school children in grade five from two surveys conducted by the Swedish National Food Agency. Six mycotoxins (deoxynivalenol (DON), zearalenone (ZEA), fumonisin B ₁ (FB ₁), fumonisin B ₂ (FB ₂), ochratoxin A (OTA), and nivalenol (NIV) and four metabolites (deepoxy-deoxynivalenol (DOM-1), aflatoxin M ₁ (AFM ₁), α-zearalenol (α-ZOL) and β-zearalenol (β-ZOL) were measured by an ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry based method (LC-MS/MS). OTA and DON were the most commonly occurring mycotoxins in urine of both adults and children, 51 and 63%, respectively in adults and 96 and 94%, respectively in children. A positive correlation was found between urinary NIV and total cereal consumption among adults. ZEA, α-ZOL, β-ZOL and FB ₂ were significantly higher in females than males (P<0.01 for all). Adjusted OTA levels were inversely correlated with income in men. In children, the percentage DOM-1 positive samples were much higher compared to adults, 76 and 8% respectively, indicating a higher capacity to detoxify DON. The small sample size among children made it difficult to study associations between urine mycotoxins levels and food group intake. All PDI estimates [DON (with and without DOM-1), ZEA (with and without α-ZOL and β-ZOL) and FB ₁] were below the TDI values except for DON exposure in adults, as reported previously, 1.3% of the volunteers were above the TDI.