Risk assessment of aflatoxins in food

© 2020 European Food Safety Authority. EFSA Journal published by John Wiley and Sons Ltd on behalf of European Food Safety Authority.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Re-evaluation of name of hydrogenated poly-1-decene (E 907) as food additive

Acknowledgements: The Panel wishes to thank: Dimitrios Chrysafidis for the preparatory work on this scientific output. The FAF Panel wishes to acknowledge all European competent institutions, Member State bodies and other organisations that provided data for this scientific output.Publisher PD

Re-evaluation of benzyl alcohol (E 1519) as food additive

Acknowledgements: The Panel wishes to thank: Dimitrios Chrysafidis for the preparatory work on this scientific output. The FAF Panel wishes to acknowledge all European competent institutions, Member State bodies and other organisations that provided data for this scientific output.Publisher PD

Risks to human and animal health related to the presence of deoxynivalenol and its acetylated and modified forms in food and feed

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Annexes to the Update of the risk assessment of nickel in food and drinking water

Annex A – Benchmark dose analysis The Annex is provided as a separate pdf file containing the detailed results of the benchmark dose analyses from which no reference point was selected. Annex B – Dietary surveys per country and age group available in the EFSA Comprehensive Database, considered in the exposure assessment The Annex is provided as a separate Excel file containing the dietary surveys per country and age group. Annex C – Occurrence data on nickel in food and drinking water The Annex is provided as a separate Excel file containing summary statistics on occurrence data on nickel. Annex D – Chronic and acute dietary exposure to nickel and the contribution of different food groups to the dietary exposure The Annex is provided as a separate Excel file containing the chronic and acute dietary exposure to nickel per survey and the contribution of different food groups to the dietary exposure.Peer reviewe

Effect of exposure to detergents and other chemicals on biomarkers of pulmonary response in exhaled breath from hospital cleaners: a pilot study

PURPOSE: The main aim of the study was to provide evidence whether professional cleaning was associated with biomarkers of lung damage in non-invasively collected biological fluids (exhaled air and exhaled breath condensate--EBC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study involved 40 cleaners regularly exposed to cleaning detergents and 40 controls. The subjects completed a standard questionnaire from European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS II) and underwent a spirometry. Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (F(E)NO) was measured online, and pH, ammonium (NH(4) (+)), H(2)O(2) and 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE) were assayed in EBC. RESULTS: Among the cleaners, the frequency of asthma and rhinitis was, respectively, 2.5 and 20%. The most frequently reported symptoms were sneezing (27.5%), nasal and/or pharyngeal pruritus (25%), ocular pruritus (22.5%) and cough (22.5%). There were no significant differences in comparison with the control group. Median F(E)NO levels were higher in African than in Caucasian cleaners (21.5 [16.5-30.0] ppb and 18.0 [13.5-20.5] ppb; p < 0.05). H(2)O(2)-EBC (0.26 [0.09-0.53] μM vs. 0.07 [0.04-0.15] μM; p < 0.01), NH(4) (+)-EBC (857 [493-1,305] μM vs. 541 [306-907] μM; p < 0.01) and pH-EBC (8.17 [8.09-8.24] vs. 8.06 [7.81-8.10]; p < 0.01) were higher in the cleaners than in the controls. Finally, the cleaners showed significant correlations between pH-EBC and NH(4) (+)-EBC (r = 0.33, p < 0.05) and a weak correlation between 4-HNE-EBC and H(2)O(2)-EBC (r = 0.37, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The promising role of EBC analysis in biomonitoring of exposed workers was confirmed. It was also possible to identify the potential biomarkers of exposure to alkaline products (increased ammonium-EBC and pH-EBC levels) and potential biomarkers of oxidative stress (increased H(2)O(2)-EBC levels correlated with 4-HNE-EBC levels) in workers with no signs of airway diseases

Effect of Salt-Bromide-Iodine Thermal Water Inhalation on Functional and Biochemical Lung Parameters

Background. Inhalation of thermal water has been used empirically in the treatment of chronic diseases of upper and lower respiratory tract. This study investigates biomarkers of effect in exhaled breath (nitric oxide (NO)) and in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) (hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ), anions, toxic heavy metals of tobacco smoke) for patients with lung diseases inhaling salt-bromide-iodine thermal water. Methods. This study enrolled two groups of patients, twenty with alveolar pulmonary diseases—pneumoconiosis—twenty-two with bronchial diseases. Patients received 12 days inhalation treatment with thermal water in Terme of Monticelli (Parma), Italy. Results. No statistically significant differences were found for NO at different flow rates in both groups of patients before and after thermal water inhalation. Also in EBC no statistically significant differences were present for H 2 O 2 concentrations, toxic heavy metals concentrations, and anion concentrations before and after treatment. Nitrates in EBC were found to be significantly higher in patients before inhalation than in controls as well as in patients after inhalation versus controls. Conclusions. This study contributes to better quantify functional and biochemical changes in airways before and after thermal water treatment