Determination of mean daily intakes of aflatoxin B1, aflatoxin M1, ochratoxin A, trichothecenes and fumonisins in 24-hour diets of children in the Netherlands

Abstract

In 2006, a duplicate diet study of children's food was carried out in the Netherlands. Parents or guardians of 123 children collected duplicates of the 24-hour diets. Levels of aflatoxin M1, aflatoxin B1, ochratoxin A, trichothecenes and fumonisins were determined. Aflatoxin M1 was detectable in 10% of the samples, with all toxin levels below the limit of quantification. Aflatoxin B1 could be detected in 80% of the samples, while in 47% of all samples aflatoxin B1 was quantifiable. Ochratoxin A could be quantified in all samples. Deoxynivalenol was quantified in almost every sample, while T-2 and HT-2 toxins could only be quantified in 3.2% and 6.4% of the samples respectively. 15-acetyldeoxynivalenol was detected in 1.6% of the samples. Fumonisin B1 was detected in 28% of the samples and fumonisin B2 in a quarter of merely those samples where fumonisin B1 was detected. In 20% of the samples fumonisin B1 could be quantified and in a quarter of those samples fumonisin B2 could be quantified too. The analytical results were used to estimate levels of daily intake. Only the mean daily intake levels for aflatoxin B1, ochratoxin A, deoxynivalenol and fumonisins B1 and B2 could reliably be estimated. The values were 0.1, 4.1, 291 and 28 ng/kg bw/day respectively, all are well below the corresponding tolerable daily intakes. For aflatoxin B1 a tolerable intake does not exist, but the intake value for this mycotoxin was very low if compared to the value that would result from the intake of food, if it was contaminated with aflatoxin B1 at the EU regulatory limit, specified for baby food. The mean daily intakes of the mycotoxins determined in children's food in the Netherlands are low and implicate that there is no health risk for children due to exposure from the studied mycotoxins.