Pigs fed Fusarium-infected maize containing zearalenone and nivalenol with sweeteners and bentonite

Final Report on the Safety Assessment of Aluminum Silicate, Calcium Silicate, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Magnesium Silicate, Magnesium Trisilicate, Sodium Magnesium Silicate, Zirconium Silicate, Attapulgite, Bentonite, Fuller's Earth, Hectorite, Kaolin, Lithium Magnesium Silicate, Lithium Magnesium Sodium Silicate, Montmorillonite, Pyrophyllite, and Zeolite

This report reviews the safety of Aluminum, Calcium, Lithium Magnesium, Lithium Magnesium Sodium, Magnesium Aluminum, Magnesium, Sodium Magnesium, and Zirconium Silicates, Magnesium Trisilicate, Attapulgite, Bentonite, Fuller's Earth, Hectorite, Kaolin, Montmorillonite, Pyrophyllite, and Zeolite as used in cosmetic formulations. The common aspect of all these claylike ingredients is that they contain silicon, oxygen, and one or more metals. Many silicates occur naturally and are mined; yet others are produced synthetically. Typical cosmetic uses of silicates include abrasive, opacifying agent, viscosity-increasing agent, anticaking agent, emulsion stabilizer, binder, and suspending agent. Clay silicates (silicates containing water in their structure) primarily function as adsorbents, opacifiers, and viscosity-increasing agents. Pyrophyllite is also used as a colorant. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has ruled Attapulgite fibers >5 μm as possibly carcinogenic to humans, but fibers <5 μm were not classified as to their carcino-genicity to humans. Likewise, Clinoptilolite, Phillipsite, Mordenite, Nonfibrous Japanese Zeolite, and synthetic Zeolites were not classified as to their carcinogenicity to humans. These ingredients are not significantly toxic in oral acute or short-term oral or parenteral toxicity studies in animals. Inhalation toxicity, however, is readily demonstrated in animals. Particle size, fibrogenicity, concentration, and mineral composition had the greatest effect on toxicity. Larger particle size and longer and wider fibers cause more adverse effects. Magnesium Aluminum Silicate was a weak primary skin irritant in rabbits and had no cumulative skin irritation in guinea pigs. No gross effects were reported in any of these studies. Sodium Magnesium Silicate had no primary skin irritation in rabbits and had no cumulative skin irritation in guinea pigs. Hectorite was nonirritating to the skin of rabbits in a Draize primary skin irritation study. Magnesium Aluminum Silicate and Sodium Magnesium Silicate caused minimal eye irritation in a Draize eye irritation test. Bentonite caused severe iritis after injection into the anterior chamber of the eyes of rabbits and when injected intralamellarly, widespread corneal infiltrates and retrocorneal membranes were recorded. In a primary eye irritation study in rabbits, Hectorite was moderately irritating without washing and practically nonirritating to the eye with a washout. Rats tolerated a single dose of Zeolite A without any adverse reaction in the eye. Calcium Silicate had no discernible effect on nidation or on maternal or fetal survival in rabbits. Magnesium Aluminum Silicate had neither a teratogenic nor adverse effects on the mouse fetus. Female rats receiving a 20% Kaolin diet exhibited maternal anemia but no significant reduction in birth weight of the pups was recorded. Type A Zeolite produced no adverse effects on the dam, embryo, or fetus in either rats or rabbits at any dose level. Clinoptilolite had no effect on female rat reproductive performance. These ingredients were not genotoxic in the Ames bacterial test system. In primary hepatocyte cultures, the addition of Attapulgite had no significant unscheduled DNA synthesis. Attapulgite did cause significant increases in unscheduled DNA synthesis in rat pleural mesothelial cells, but no significant increase in sister chromosome exchanges were seen. Zeolite particles (<10 μm) produced statistically significant increase in the percentage of aberrant metaphases in human peripheral blood lymphocytes and cells collected by peritoneal lavage from exposed mice. Topical application of Magnesium Aluminum Silicate to human skin daily for 1 week produced no adverse effects. Occupational exposure to mineral dusts has been studied extensively. Fibrosis and pneumoconiosis have been documented in workers involved in the mining and processing of Aluminum Silicate, Calcium Silicate, Zirconium Silicate, Fuller's Earth, Kaolin, Montmorillonite, Pyrophyllite, and Zeolite. The Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) Expert Panel concluded that the extensive pulmonary damage in humans was the result of direct occupational inhalation of the dusts and noted that lesions seen in animals were affected by particle size, fiber length, and concentration. The Panel considers that most of the formulations are not respirable and of the preparations that are respirable, the concentration of the ingredient is very low. Even so, the Panel considered that any spray containing these solids should be formulated to minimize their inhalation. With this admonition to the cosmetics industry, the CIR Expert Panel concluded that these ingredients are safe as currently used in cosmetic formulations. The Panel did note that the cosmetic ingredient, Talc, is a hydrated magnesium silicate. Because it has a unique crystalline structure that differs from ingredients addressed in this safety assessment, Talc is not included in this report.

Nutritive value and non-toxicity of Botryosphaeria zeae-infected wheat for weaner pigs

A novel fungal infection of wheat by Botryosphaeria zeae was identified on the Darling Downs of Queensland, Australia and called 'white grain' because of its bleached appearance. The only nutritional changes in the wheat grain infected with B. zeae were decreases in nitrogen and total amino acids (approximately 5%), and slight increases in the lysine, fibre and fat content, with starch unaffected. Nutrient digestibility and potential toxicity were assessed in weaner pigs housed in metabolism crates and fed this grain over a 4-week period, as they grew from 15 to 35 kg. Digestibility of energy and nitrogen in white grain was not different from that of normal wheat. The piglets were then bled for biochemical and haematological testing, slaughtered and the entire viscera subjected to gross pathological inspection, followed by histological examination of the liver, kidney, pancreas, spleen, heart, lung, muscle and intestine. White grain did not affect palatability of diets, pig growth rates; no abnormalities were detected in tissues, while biochemical and haematological parameters did not suggest any toxic effect. Hence, wheat with white grain appears suitable for use in pig diets, but the use of this wheat for human food should be restricted until additional longer term studies are conducted.

The protective effect of hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate against haematological, biochemical and pathological changes induced by Zearalenone in mice

Hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate (HSCAS), an anticaking agent for mixed feed, was added alone or simultaneously with a toxic Zearalenone (ZEN) dose to balb/c mice and was evaluated for its ability to restore damages induced by ZEN. The latter is a mycotoxin produced by fusarium genera; it is mainly known to induce several toxic effects such as hepatotoxicity, immunotoxicity and nephrotoxicity on animals and humans. The experimental approach consisted of eight treatments of six mice each by 400 mg/kg bw or 5 g/kg bw of HSCAS. Two experimental groups have received respectively ZEN alone at 40 (8% of LD50) and at 500 mg/kg bw (LD50). Two other groups have received ZEN at 40 or 500 mg/kg bw combined respectively with HSCAS at 400 mg/kg bw and 5 g/kg bw. The control groups received water or olive oil. Forty-eight hours after treatment, blood samples were collected for haematological and serum biochemical parameters measurements. ZEN treatment significantly increased hematocrit, haemoglobin, white blood cells: lymphocytes, eosinophils, neutrophils, monocytes and the most of biochemical serum parameters; it significantly reduced platelets and induced degenerative changes in the hepatic and renal tissues; while, the mixture of HSCAS with ZEN induced a reestablishment of haematological parameters, levels of serum biochemical enzyme activities and histological pictures of both liver and kidney. It also prevented general toxicity of ZEN. This was observed by the shift of LD50 for this toxin. Thus, our data strongly suggested that deleterious effects of ZEN could be overcome or, at least, significantly were diminished by HSCAS. Moreover, this sorbent by itself did not show any toxic effects.

Recent advances on the use of adsorbent materials for detoxification ofFusariummycotoxins

The extensive use of adsorbents in the livestock industry has led to the introduction of a wide range of new products on the market, most of them claiming high in vitro mycotoxin adsorption capacity. However, adsorbents that may appear effective in vitro do not necessarily retain their efficacy when tested in vivo. Studies performed in our laboratory during the past few years aiming to evaluate the efficacy of various adsorbent materials in binding Fusarium mycotoxins are reported. Adsorption experiments were performed in in vitro screening tests for Fusarium mycotoxins at different pHs; by in vivo tests using the increase of the sphinganine to sphingosine ratio in rat urine and tissues as a biomarker of fumonisin exposure; and by a dynamic, computer-controlled, gastrointestinal model simulating the gastrointestinal tract of healthy pigs. Most of the commercially available mycotoxin-binders failed in sequestering in vitro Fusarium mycotoxins. Only for a small number of adsorbent materials was the ability to bind more than one mycotoxin demonstrated. Cholestyramine was proven to be an effective binder for fumonisins and zearalenone in vitro, which was confirmed for zearalenone in experiments using a dynamic gastrointestinal model and for fumonisins in in vivo experiments. No adsorbent materials, with the exception of activated carbon, showed relevant ability in binding deoxynivalenol and nivalenol. The in vitro efficacy of activated carbon toward fumonisins was not confirmed in vivo by the biomarker assay. The dynamic gastrointestinal model was a reliable tool to study the effectiveness of adsorbent materials in reducing the bioaccessibility of Fusarium mycotoxins, as an alternative to the more difficult and time-consuming studies with domestic livestock.