Exposure of consumers to deoxynivalenol from consumption of white bread in Hungary

Abstract

In view of the frequent occurrence of mycotoxins in cereals, a study was initiated to assess the exposure of the Hungarian adult population. Consumption data for 1360 individuals, based on a 3-day questionnaire, indicated that white bread accounted for the major intake of cereal-based products. Various cereal products were analysed for 16 mycotoxins by a LC/MS/MS multi-toxin method with LOD of 16 µg kg⁻¹ and LOQ of 50 µg kg⁻¹. Deoxynivalenol (DON) was most frequently detected, but no acetyl-deoxynivalenol was present in detectable concentrations. Consumer exposure was calculated with standard Monte Carlo probabilistic modelling and point estimates, taking into account bread consumption and DON contamination in independently taken wheat flour and wheat grain samples. Over 55% of cases the DON intake were below 15% of the provisional maximum tolerable daily intake (PMTDI) of 1 µg/(kg bw)/day. However, in 5–15% of cases, the intake from bread consumption alone exceeded the PMTDI. Wheat grain data led to the higher percentage. Intakes estimated from both data sets were at or below the acute reference dose (ARfD) of 8 µg/(kg bw)/day in 99.94–99.97% of cases.

Keywords:

• Exposure, probabilistic modelling
• exposure assessment
• mycotoxins, trichothecenes
• cereals

Acknowledgement

The valuable cooperation and support of Ádám Tölgyesi, Edith Szabó, Géza Muranszky, Judit Schill, and Tamás Szigeti are highly appreciated.