Exposure Assessment of Multiple Mycotoxins and Cumulative Health Risk Assessment: A Biomonitoring-Based Study in the Yangtze River Delta, China

Abstract

The extensive exposure to multiple mycotoxins has been demonstrated in many countries; however, realistic assessments of the risks related to cumulative exposure are limited. This biomonitoring study was conducted to investigate exposure to 23 mycotoxins/metabolites and their determinants in 227 adults (aged 20-88 years) in the Yangtze River Delta, China. Eight mycotoxins were detected in 110 urine samples, and multiple mycotoxins co-occurred in 51/227 (22.47%) of urine samples, with deoxynivalenol (DON), fumonisin B1 (FB1), and zearalenone (ZEN) being the most frequently occurring. For single mycotoxin risk assessment, FB1, ZEN, aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), and ochratoxin A (OTA) all showed potential adverse effects. However, for the 12 samples containing DON and ZEN, in which none had a hazard risk, the combination of both mycotoxins in two samples was considered to pose potential endocrine disrupting risks to humans by hazard index (HI) method. The combined margin of exposure (MOE_T) for AFB1 and FB1 could constitute a potential health concern, and AFB1 was the main contributor. Our approach provides a blueprint for evaluating the cumulative risks related to different types of mycotoxins and opens a new horizon for the accurate interpretation of epidemiological health outcomes related to multi-mycotoxin exposure.

Keywords: biomonitoring; combined margin of exposure; cumulative risk assessment; hazard index; mycotoxins; urine.

Figure 1

Flow chart describing the selection procedure of the studied samples.

Figure 2

Comparison of the prevalence of eight mycotoxins in urine (a) among different age groups: 20–45 years (n = 116), 46–64 years (n = 71), 65–88 years (n = 40); (b) between males (n = 114) and females (n = 113) in the three regions and (c) in the different BMI groups: <18.5 kg m⁻² (n = 13), 18.5–23.9 kg m⁻² (n = 128), >24 kg m⁻² (n = 86). (AFM1: aflatoxin M1; OTA: ochratoxin A; FB1: fumonisin B1; DON: deoxynivalenol; DON-3-GlcA: deoxynivalenol-3-glucuronide; DON-15-GlcA: deoxynivalenol-15-glucuronide; ZEN: zearalenol; ZEN-14-GlcA: zearalenone-14-glucuronide; ALL: mycotoxin contamination in any case; *: 0.01 < p-value < 0.05; ** p-value < 0.01 by the chi-square test).