H&TRC-Health & Technology Research Center, ESTeSL-Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde, Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, 1990-096 Lisboa, Portugal.
Centro de Investigação em Saúde Pública, Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, 1600-560 Lisboa, Portugal.
Toxins (Basel). 2018 Aug 23;10(9):342. doi: 10.3390/toxins10090342.
Mycotoxins are toxic mold metabolites that can persist in environment long after the fungi species responsible for their production disappear. Critical workplace for mycotoxins presence has already been studied and nowadays it is possible to recognize that exposure to mycotoxins through inhalation occurs due to their presence in dust. This study aimed to assess occupational co-exposure to multiple mycotoxins in a fresh bread dough company, an occupational setting not studied until now. Occupational exposure assessment to mycotoxins was done using a LC-MS/MS urinary multi-biomarker approach. Twenty-one workers and nineteen individuals that were used as controls participated in the study. Workers/controls (spot-urine) and environment (settled dust) samples were collected and analyzed. Concerning workers group, DON-GlcA, and OTA were the most prevalent biomarkers (>LOD), 66% and 90.5%, respectively. In the control group, OTA was also one of the most detected (68%) followed by CIT (58%) and DON-GlcA (58%). DON was the mycotoxin measured in high amounts in the settled dust sample (58.2 ng/g). Both workers and controls are exposed to several mycotoxins simultaneously. The workers group, due to their high contact with flour dust, revealed a higher exposure to DON. Considering these results, risk management measures must be applied including specific and adequate health surveillance programs in order to avoid exposure and consequently the associated health consequences.
真菌毒素是有毒的霉菌代谢物，在产生它们的真菌物种消失后很长时间仍会存在于环境中。目前已经对真菌毒素存在的关键工作场所进行了研究，现在可以认识到，由于其存在于灰尘中，人们会通过吸入而接触到真菌毒素。本研究旨在评估一家新鲜面包面团公司中多种真菌毒素的职业共同暴露情况，这是一个迄今为止尚未研究过的职业环境。使用 LC-MS/MS 尿多生物标志物方法对真菌毒素的职业暴露进行了评估。共有 21 名工人和 19 名作为对照的个体参加了这项研究。收集并分析了工人/对照者（点尿）和环境（沉降灰尘）样本。就工人组而言，DON-GlcA 和 OTA 是最常见的生物标志物（>LOD），分别为 66%和 90.5%。在对照组中，OTA 也是检测到的最常见的生物标志物之一（68%），其次是 CIT（58%）和 DON-GlcA（58%）。DON 是沉降灰尘样本中含量最高的真菌毒素（58.2ng/g）。工人和对照组都同时接触到多种真菌毒素。由于与面粉灰尘的高度接触，工人组对 DON 的暴露水平更高。考虑到这些结果，必须采取风险管理措施，包括制定具体和适当的健康监测计划，以避免接触和随之而来的健康后果。
