Exposure assessment and risk characterisation of aflatoxins in randomly collected rice samples from local markets of Hyderabad, India

Abstract

Aflatoxin (AF) poisoning of staple foods, such as rice, is caused by fungal contamination by Aspergillus species. These AFs are genotoxic, carcinogenic and suppress the immune system. Hence, the present study was conducted to elucidate the prevalence of AF contamination in rice samples collected from local markets of Hyderabad, Telangana, India. The rice samples collected were analysed for AF by using HPLC-fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD). Based on AF contamination levels and dietary intake of rice, the health risk was assessed by the margin of exposure (MOE) and liver cancer risk in adults, adolescence and children. The percentage detected contamination with AFB₁ and AFB₂ of rice samples was 54% and 34%, with the concentration ranging between 0–20.35 µg/kg and 0–1.54 µg/kg, respectively. Three rice samples exceeded the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) total AF acceptable limit of 15 µg/kg. The average MOE values were 53.73, 50.58 and 35.69 (all <10,000) for adults, adolescence and children, respectively. The average liver cancer risk associated with rice consumption in the population of Hyderabad was found to be 0.27, 0.28 and 0.40 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cases/year/100,000 individuals in adults, adolescence and children, respectively. This study revealed an adverse health risk to population of Hyderabad due to consumption of AF contaminated rice.

Keywords:

• Rice
• aflatoxins
• estimated daily intake
• HPLC-FLD
• liver cancer risk
• margin of exposure

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the support and guidance of the Director of the ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad, India.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest associated with this manuscript.

Author contributions

VV and SK contributed to the conception, design, data curation and writing-original draft preparation, review and editing. SG, YS and MSK contributed to the initial drafting of the manuscript. SNS contributed to the conception and design of the study.

Consent for publication

All the authors agreed to submit the manuscript.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, Dr. SNS, upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad, India.