Exposure determinants of cadmium in European mothers and their children

© 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CCBY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).The metal cadmium (Cd) is a widespread environmental pollutant with documented adverse effects on the kidneys and bones from long-term environmental exposure, but with insufficiently elucidated public health consequences such as risk of cardiovascular disease, hormone-related cancer in adults and developmental effects in children. This study is the first pan-European human biomonitoring project that succeeded in performing harmonized measurements of Cd in urine in a comparable way in mother–child couples from 16 European countries. The aim of the study was to evaluate the overall Cd exposure and significant determinants of Cd exposure. A study population of 1632 women (24–52 years of age), and 1689 children (5–12 years of age), from 32 rural and urban areas, was examined within a core period of 6 months in 2011–2012. Women were stratified as smokers and non-smokers. As expected, smoking mothers had higher geometric mean (gm) urinary cadmium (UCd; 0.24 µg/g crea; n=360) than non-smoking mothers (gm 0.18 µg/g crea; n=1272; p<0.0001), and children had lower UCd (gm 0.065 µg/g crea; n=1689) than their mothers at the country level. Non-smoking women exposed to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) at home had 14% (95% CI 1–28%) higher UCd than those who were not exposed to ETS at home (p=0.04). No influence of ETS at home or other places on UCd levels was detected in children. Smoking women with primary education as the highest educational level of the household had 48% (95% CI 18–86%) higher UCd than those with tertiary education (p=0.0008). The same observation was seen in non-smoking women and in children; however they were not statistically significant. In children, living in a rural area was associated with 7% (95% CI 1–13%) higher UCd (p=0.03) compared to living in an urban area. Children, 9–12 years had 7% (95% CI 1–13%) higher UCd (p=0.04) than children 5–8 years. About 1% of the mothers, and 0.06% of the children, exceeded the tolerable weekly intake (TWI) appointed by EFSA, corresponding to 1.0 µg Cd/g crea in urine. Poland had the highest UCd in comparison between the 16 countries, while Denmark had the lowest. Whether the differences between countries are related to differences in the degree of environmental Cd contamination or to differences in lifestyle, socioeconomic status or dietary patterns is not clear.Financially supported by the 7th EU framework programe(DGResearch – No. 244237-COPHES),LIFE+ 2009(DG Environment – LIFE09ENV/BE000410-DEMOCOPHES),with addi- tional co-funding from DEMOCOPHES partners

Factors influencing benzene formation from the decarboxylation of benzoate in liquid model systems

Benzene may occur in foods due to the oxidative decarboxylation of benzoate in the presence of hydroxyl radicals. This study investigated factors influencing benzene formation in liquid model systems. The type of buffer, other sources of hydroxyl radical formation in food (photo oxidation of riboflavin and lipid oxidation), transition metal ion concentrations, and the inhibitory effect of antioxidants were tested in benzoate containing model systems. Regarding the hydroxyl radical sources tested, the highest benzene formation was observed in light exposed model systems containing ascorbic acid, Cu(2+), and riboflavin in Na-citrate buffer (1250 +/- 131 mu g kg(-1)). In practice, it seems that the combination ascorbic acid/transition metal ion remains the biggest contributor to benzene formation in food. However, the concentration of Cu(2+) influences significantly benzene formation in such a system with highest benzene yields observed for Cu(2+) 50 mu M (1400 mu g kg(-1)). The presence of antioxidants with metal chelation or reduction properties could prevent completely benzene formation

Brominated flame retardants in Belgian home-produced eggs: levels and contamination sources

&lt;p&gt;The extent and the sources of contamination with brominated flame retardants (BFRs), such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD), in home-produced eggs from free-foraging chicken of Belgian private owners were investigated. Various factors, such as seasonal variability, exposure of chickens through diet (kitchen waste) and soil, and elimination of BFRs through eggs and faeces were assessed. PBDEs were more important than HBCD in terms of concentrations and detection frequency. Concentrations of PBDEs and HBCD in Belgian home-produced eggs were relatively low and comparable with reported levels from other European countries and the US. The concentrations of PBDEs (sum of 13 congeners, including BDE 209) ranged between not detected and 32 ng/g lipid weight (lw), with medians of 3.0 and &amp;lt;2.0 ng/g lw for the autumn 2006 and spring 2007 campaigns, respectively. When present, BDE 209 was the major PBDE congener (45% of sum PBDEs). When BDE 209 was not detected, the PBDE profile was composed of PentaBDE (BDE 99 and BDE 47), with, in some cases, higher contribution of OctaBDE (BDE 183 and BDE 153). HBCD was also detected (&amp;lt;0.4 and 2.9 ng/g lw for the autumn 2006 and spring 2007 campaigns, respectively), but at lower detection frequency. The highest HBCD value was 62 ng/g lw. The similarity between profiles and seasonal variations in the concentrations of BFRs in soil and eggs indicate that soil is an important source, but not the sole source, for eggs laid by free-foraging chicken. The contamination of eggs with PBDEs and HBCD appears to be of low concern for public health and the contribution of eggs to the total daily intake of PBDEs appears to be limited (10% for chicken owners and 5% for the average Belgian consumer)&lt;/p&gt;</p

Benzene formation in foods

Benzene has been classified as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1) by the IARC. The occurrence of benzene in food has been attributed to several potential sources. One of these sources is benzoate, a widely used preservative, which may decarboxylate in the presence of ascorbic acid and metal ions. At low pH, hydroxyl radicals are supposed to be the key intermediate for this oxidative mechanism. Since several other reactions in foods may give rise to the generation of hydroxyl radicals, their potential to decarboxylate benzoate were evaluated in a formate buffer system (0.5 M) at pH 3 and 4 and incubated at 50°C for 5 days under light. Neither photo-induced oxidation in the presence of riboflavin or lipid oxidation and combinations of thereof were able to induce benzene formation from benzoate. In the ascorbate-transition metal ion system, lipids seemed to reduce benzene formation. This can probably be explained due to the lower availability of benzoate in the aqueous fraction because of its lipophylic character. As a further elaboration of the ascorbate-transition metal ion oxidative decarboxylation mechanism, this reaction was studied in various other buffers at pH 3 and 4. Remarkably, a strong effect of the type of buffer on the amounts of benzene generated from benzoate was observed. Thus especially citrate and acetate buffers seemed to enhance the decarboxylation reaction when compared to formate. From results, it can be concluded that care should be taken in the formulation of foodstuffs with respect to acidifiers in the presence of benzoate and ascorbate. Acidifiers may affect the benzene formation to a significant extent

Benzene formation in model systems containing benzoate

Benzene has been classified as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1) by the IARC. The occurrence of benzene in food has been attributed to several potential sources. One of these sources is benzoate, a widely used preservative, which may decarboxylate in the presence of ascorbic acid and metal ions. At low pH, hydroxyl radicals are supposed to be the key intermediate for this oxidative mechanism. Since several other reactions in foods may give rise to the generation of hydroxyl radicals, their potential to decarboxylate benzoate were evaluated in a citrate buffer system (125 mM) at pH 3 and incubated at 25°C for 7 days under light. As a further elaboration of the ascorbate-transition metal ion oxidative decarboxylation mechanism, this reaction was studied in various other buffers at pH 3 and 4. Remarkably, a strong effect of the type of buffer on the amounts of benzene generated from benzoate was observed. From results, it can be concluded that care should be taken in the formulation of foodstuffs with respect to acidifiers in the presence of benzoate and ascorbate

Benzene frequently found in foods: do we underestimate the exposure to benzene from the food chain?

Benzene is classified by the IARC as carcinogenic to humans. Several sources may contribute for the occurrence of this toxic compound in foods, such as, environmental and process contamination and the oxidative decarboxilation of benzoic acid in the presence of ascorbic acid. Benzoate salts and ascorbic acid may be naturally present or added as food additives. A screening for the presence of benzene in foods of the Belgian market was performed. 400 food samples were purchased in local supermarkets. Food selection was based on several criteria, including the natural presence of benzoate, the presence of benzoate as a food additive, the potential presence of environmental or process contaminations, etc. Food samples were analyzed by distillation and isotope dilution HS-GC/MS. This method was fully validated [1] and presents detection limits below the legal limit established by the European Council for benzene in drinking water (1 µg L-1). Precautions were taken to prevent losses of benzene and/or artefactual benzene formation from benzoic acid during analysis. Preliminary results of 290 samples analysed showed the presence of benzene in 64 % of the samples. 36 % of the samples contained benzene above 1 µg L-1 and 23 samples (8%) presented benzene concentrations above 10 µg L-1. The highest benzene contents were found in coffee, tea and fish products. These high concentrations are possibly due to the production process or specific nature of the food samples. The high number of contaminated samples suggests that environmental contamination of benzene in the food chain should not be underestimated. References [1] R.M.Vinci, M. Canfyn, B. De Meulenaer, T. de Schaetzen, I. Van Overmeire, J. De Beer and J. Van Loco, Determination of benzene in different food matrices by distillation and isotope dilution HS-GC/MS; Analytica Chimica Acta 672 (2010) 124–12