Studies on toxicity of selected Oomycetes

The MTT test is used to determine the cytotoxicity of species: Achlya americana, A. caroliniana, Leptomitus lacteus, Saprolegnia ferax and S. lapponica, which occurred in Lake Sitno in the Drawieński National Park (W Poland). It was stated that among five examined species of zoosporic fungi only one of them A. caroliniana, does not show cytotoxic effect. Low and mean toxicity of other tested water FLO, however, combined with the large-scale character of their appearance shows, that they can create serious threat for the spawn, fry, fish as well as the other organisms (including invertebrates) existing in water

Mobile Air Quality Studies (MAQS) - an international project

Due to an increasing awareness of the potential hazardousness of air pollutants, new laws, rules and guidelines have recently been implemented globally. In this respect, numerous studies have addressed traffic-related exposure to particulate matter using stationary technology so far. By contrast, only few studies used the advanced technology of mobile exposure analysis. The Mobile Air Quality Study (MAQS) addresses the issue of air pollutant exposure by combining advanced high-granularity spatial-temporal analysis with vehicle-mounted, person-mounted and roadside sensors. The MAQS-platform will be used by international collaborators in order 1) to assess air pollutant exposure in relation to road structure, 2) to assess air pollutant exposure in relation to traffic density, 3) to assess air pollutant exposure in relation to weather conditions, 4) to compare exposure within vehicles between front and back seat (children) positions, and 5) to evaluate "traffic zone"- exposure in relation to non-"traffic zone"-exposure. Primarily, the MAQS-platform will focus on particulate matter. With the establishment of advanced mobile analysis tools, it is planed to extend the analysis to other pollutants including including NO2, SO2, nanoparticles, and ozone

High domestic pig contribution to the local gene pool of free-living European wild boar: a case study in Poland

Rates of hybridization between wild and domesticated animals appear to be increasing worldwide. Recent results suggest that genetic introgression from domestic swine into European wild boar is much more common in local populations than expected, based on pan-European studies. Thus, we screened the genetic purity of 265 free-living wild boars from two hunting areas in Poland by genotyping the melanocortin receptor 1 gene (MC1R) for polymorphism. Unexpectedly, high numbers of individuals with domestic genes (24%) were identified. This suggests that mixed ancestry may be common in Polish wild boar. Among admixed individuals, backcrosses with domestic pig and/or introgressed wild boars were detected (2%). Multiple commercial domestic pig breeds are possibly involved in the introgression observed in the study populations. In addition, the absence of significant differences in the frequency of wild-type allele among two hunting areas suggests high dispersal of individuals and gene flow among populations. We conclude that further study is needed to better understand the mechanisms and sources of introgression in wild boars in Poland

Occupational Exposure to Mycotoxins in Swine Production: Environmental and Biological Monitoring Approaches

Free PMC article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/30717100/The authors are grateful to the swine farms employers and workers that collaborate in this research project. R.A. and C.M. are grateful to INSA and to CESAM (UID/AMB/50017/2013) through national funds (FCT), and the co-funding by the Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER) (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-00763), within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement and Compete 2020.Swine production workers are exposed simultaneously to multiple contaminants. Occupational exposure to aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) in Portuguese swine production farms has already been reported. However, besides AFB1, data regarding fungal contamination showed that exposure to other mycotoxins could be expected in this setting. The present study aimed to characterize the occupational exposure to multiple mycotoxins of swine production workers. To provide a broad view on the burden of contamination by mycotoxins and the workers’ exposure, biological (urine) samples from workers (n = 25) and 38 environmental samples (air samples, n = 23; litter samples, n = 5; feed samples, n = 10) were collected. The mycotoxins biomarkers detected in the urine samples of the workers group were the deoxynivalenol-glucuronic acid conjugate (60%), aflatoxin M1 (16%), enniatin B (4%), citrinin (8%), dihydrocitrinone (12%) and ochratoxin A (80%). Results of the control group followed the same pattern, but in general with a lower number of quantifiable results (<LOQ). Besides air samples, all the other environmental samples collected presented high and diverse contamination, and deoxynivalenol (DON), like in the biomonitoring results, was the most prominent mycotoxin. The results demonstrate that the occupational environment is adding and contributing to the workers’ total exposure to mycotoxins, particularly in the case of DON. This was confirmed by the biomonitoring data and the high contamination found in feed and litter samples. Furthermore, the followed multi-biomarker approach allowed to conclude that workers and general population are exposed to several mycotoxins simultaneously. Moreover, occupational exposure is probably described as being intermittent and with very high concentrations for short durations. This should be reflected in the risk assessment process.This research was funded by Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal: Project “Bacterial Bioburden assessment in the context of occupational exposure and animal health of swine productions (IPL/2016/BBIOR_ESTeSL)” and also by FCT—Fundação para Ciência e Tecnologia: Project “EXPOsE – Establishing protocols to assess occupational exposure to microbiota in clinical settings (02/SAICT/2016 – Project nº 23222)”.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Portuguese coffee: is there a concern regarding mycotoxins contamination?

According to the International Coffee Organization, global coffee production is rising driven by an increase in total demand. However, similar to other crops, coffee cherries, and beans are exposed to contamination and consequent colonization by fungi during different phases of plant development, harvesting, transport, and storage. Consequently, mycotoxins also contaminate coffee beans although the roasting process has an important role in reducing mycotoxins presence, depending upon the combination of time and temperature. Since each country applies different roasting conditions, significant differences in mycotoxins concentrations occur across Europe with respect to contamination levels even when the origin of the coffee is the same. A previous paper showed high contamination by toxigenic mycobiota of coffee beans to be used in Portuguese coffee industries.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Unraveling the occupational exposure to mycotoxins in a waste management setting: results from a case study in Norway

IntroductionWaste management represents an occupational setting where fungi are significant contaminants. This study aimed to assess the exposure of waste workers to mycotoxins through a human biomonitoring study.MethodsA total of 33 workers and 19 controls provided spot urine samples to determine 10 mycotoxins’ urinary biomarkers using liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. Risk characterization was performed using hazard quotient and margin of exposure assessments.ResultsThe results indicated that workers were exposed to six out of the 10 mycotoxins tested, with the following detection rates: deoxynivalenol (91%, 30/33), ochratoxin A (33%, 11/33), zearalenone (17%, 5/33), α-zearalenol (12%, 4/33), β-zearalenol (12%, 4/33), and HT-2 toxin (3%, 1/33). Within controls and outwith controls, were exposed to 5/10 and 2/10 mycotoxins, respectively. All participants exhibited hazard quotients for deoxynivalenol and zearalenone below one, indicating that the exposure is unlikely to pose a health risk. However, when considering the margin of exposure determined for ochratoxin A, 18% of the total participants presented results below 200 for non-neoplastic effects, and 100% of the total participants presented values below 10,000 for neoplastic effects, suggesting potential health concerns that require further assessment.DiscussionThis study highlights the need for future research on occupational exposure to mycotoxins in waste management settings

The Impact of the Fusarium Mycotoxin Deoxynivalenol on the Health and Performance of Broiler Chickens

The aim of the present experiment was to investigate the effects of feeding grains naturally contaminated with Fusarium mycotoxins on morphometric indices of jejunum and to follow the passage of deoxynivalenol (DON) through subsequent segments of the digestive tract of broilers. A total of 45 1-d-old broiler chickens (Ross 308 males) were randomly allotted to three dietary treatments (15 birds/treatment): (1) control diet; (2) diet contaminated with 1 mg DON/kg feed; (3) diet contaminated with 5 mg DON/kg feed for five weeks. None of the zootechnical traits (body weight, body weight gain, feed intake, and feed conversion) responded to increased DON levels in the diet. However, DON at both dietary levels (1 mg and 5 mg DON/kg feed) significantly altered the small intestinal morphology. In the jejunum, the villi were significantly (P < 0.01) shorter in both DON treated groups compared with the controls. Furthermore, the dietary inclusion of DON decreased (P < 0.05) the villus surface area in both DON treated groups. The absolute or relative organ weights (liver, heart, proventriculus, gizzard, small intestine, spleen, pancreas, colon, cecum, bursa of Fabricius and thymus) were not altered (P > 0.05) in broilers fed the diet containing DON compared with controls. DON and de-epoxy-DON (DOM-1) were analyzed in serum, bile, liver, feces and digesta from consecutive segments of the digestive tract (gizzard, cecum, and rectum). Concentrations of DON and its metabolite DOM-1 in serum, bile, and liver were lower than the detection limits of the applied liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method. Only about 10 to 12% and 6% of the ingested DON was recovered in gizzard and feces, irrespective of the dietary DON-concentration. However, the DON recovery in the cecum as percentage of DON-intake varied between 18 to 22% and was not influenced by dietary DON-concentration. Interestingly, in the present trial, DOM-1 did not appear in the large intestine and in feces. The results indicate that deepoxydation in the present study hardly occurred in the distal segments of the digestive tract, assuming that the complete de-epoxydation occurs in the proximal small intestine where the majority of the parent toxin is absorbed. In conclusion, diets with DON contamination below levels that induce a negative impact on performance could alter small intestinal morphology in broilers. Additionally, the results confirm that the majority of the ingested DON quickly disappears through the gastrointestinal tract