International Conference on Safety and Innovation in Food Packaging (InSIPack) 2016: book of abstracts

The aim of the conference is to bring together academia and industry to discuss the safety of food packaging as well as the development of new food packaging materials, including active, intelligent and nano concepts. Bio-based materials will be also discussed due to be a growing area of food packaging. Topics: Food Safety & Quality (Physical and chemical hazards: measurement and assessment; Biological hazards: risk and prevention; Mathematical modelling of risk assessment; Evaluation of food spoilage, food quality and shelf life; Food packaging laws and regulations; Food package interactions: migration measurement methods, models and food safety risk assessment; Food Packaging innovation (Active and intelligent packaging; Nano-packaging; New packaging materials and material development; Bio based and edible packaging; Food package testing; Sustainable food contact materials; Recycling and Life Cycle Assessment).

Application of mathematical models to mycotoxins children risk assessment: a case study of Portuguese children exposure to co-occurring mycotoxins in processed cereal-based foods

People, animals and the environment can be exposed to multiple chemicals at once from a variety of sources, but current risk assessment is usually carried out based on one chemical substance at a time. In human health risk assessment, ingestion of food is considered a major route of exposure to many contaminants, namely mycotoxins, a wide group of fungal secondary metabolites that are known to potentially cause toxicity and carcinogenic outcomes. Mycotoxins are commonly found in a variety of foods including those intended for consumption by infants and young children and have been found in processed cereal-based foods available in the Portuguese market. The use of mathematical models, including probabilistic approaches using Monte Carlo simulations, constitutes a prominent issue in human health risk assessment in general and in mycotoxins exposure assessment in particular. The present study aims to characterize, for the first time, the risk associated with the exposure of Portuguese children to single and multiple mycotoxins present in processed cereal-based foods (CBF). Portuguese children (0-3 years old) food consumption data (n=103) were collected using a 3 days food diary. Contamination data concerned the quantification of 12 mycotoxins (aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, fumonisins and trichothecenes) were evaluated in 20 CBF samples marketed in 2014 and 2015 in Lisbon; samples were analyzed by HPLC-FLD, LC-MS/MS and GC-MS. Daily exposure of children to mycotoxins was performed using deterministic and probabilistic approaches. Different strategies were used to treat the left censored data. For aflatoxins, as carcinogenic compounds, the margin of exposure (MoE) was calculated as a ratio of BMDL (benchmark dose lower confidence limit) to the aflatoxin exposure. The magnitude of the MoE gives an indication of the risk level. For the remaining mycotoxins, the output of exposure was compared to the dose reference values (TDI) in order to calculate the hazard quotients (ratio between exposure and a reference dose, HQ). For the cumulative risk assessment of multiple mycotoxins, the concentration addition (CA) concept was used. The combined margin of exposure (MoET) and the hazard index (HI) were calculated for aflatoxins and the remaining mycotoxins, respectively. 71% of CBF analyzed samples were contaminated with mycotoxins (with values below the legal limits) and approximately 56% of the studied children consumed CBF at least once in these 3 days. Preliminary results showed that children exposure to single mycotoxins present in CBF were below the TDI. Aflatoxins MoE and MoET revealed a reduced potential risk by exposure through consumption of CBF (with values around 10000 or more). HQ and HI values for the remaining mycotoxins were below 1. Children are a particularly vulnerable population group to food contaminants and the present results point out an urgent need to establish legal limits and control strategies regarding the presence of multiple mycotoxins in children foods in order to protect their health. The development of packaging materials with antifungal properties is a possible solution to control the growth of moulds and consequently to reduce mycotoxin production, contributing to guarantee the quality and safety of foods intended for children consumption.

The cytokinesis-block micronucleus (CBMN) assay in human populations exposed to styrene: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Styrene is a building-block of several compounds used in a wide array of materials and products. The most important human exposure to this substance occurs in industrial settings, especially among reinforced-plastics industry workers. The effect of occupational exposure to styrene on cytogenetics biomarkers has been previously reviewed with positive association observed for chromosomal aberrations, and inconclusive data for the micronucleus assay. Some limitations were noted in those studies, including inadequate exposure assessment and poor epidemiological design. Furthermore, in earlier studies micronuclei frequency was measured with protocols not as reliable as cytokinesis-block micronucleus (CBMN) assay. Aim of the present systematic review and meta-analysis is to investigate genomic instability and DNA damage as measured by the CBMN assay in lymphocytes of subjects exposed to styrene. A total of 11 studies published between 2004 and 2012 were included in the meta-analysis encompassing 479 styrene-exposed workers and 510 controls. The quality of each study was estimated by a quality scoring system which ranked studies according to the consideration of major confounders, exposure characterization, and technical parameters. An overall increase of micronuclei frequencies was found in styrene-exposure workers when compared to referents (meta-MR 1.34; 95% CI 1.18–1.52), with significant increases achieved in six individual studies. The consistency of results in individual studies, the independence of this result from major confounding factors and from the quality of the study strengthens the reliability of risk estimates and supports the use of the CBMN assay in monitoring genetic risk in styrene workers.