Investigation of aluminum content of imported candies and snack foods in Taiwan

Ecological health risk assessment of microplastics and heavy metals in sediments, water, hydrophytes (Alternanthera philoxeroides, Typha latifolia, and Ipomoea carnea), and fish (Labeo rohita) in Marala wetlands in Sialkot, Pakistan

For the ecological risk assessment of heavy metals and microplastics in Marala wetlands in Sialkot, Pakistan, samples of sediments, water, aquatic plants (Alternanthera philoxeroides, Typha latifolia, and Ipomoea carnea), and fish (Labeo rohita) were studied from five different locations. Pb, Cd, and Cr concentrations were above permissible limits devised by WHO in sediments and water at most of sites. High concentrations of Cd were recorded in water samples compared to sediments with maximum values recorded at Site-2 (52.08 ± 9.55 mg kg-1) and Site-5 (62.29 ± 10.12 mg kg-1). The maximum concentrations of Cr (7.23 ± 0.40 mg kg-1) and Pb (22.87 ± 0.83 mg kg-1) were found at Site-4 in water samples. The maximum abundance of microplastics (3047 pieces kg-1 of sediments) was at Site-1 with filaments in the highest proportion among the other types. Zn, Ni, and Cu remained generally low in concentrations in both sediments and waters. Plants showed accumulation of heavy metals, notably the amount of Cd (33.36 ± 0.26 mgkg-1) and Ni (163.3 ± 1.30 mgkg-1) absorbed by T. latifolia and A. philoxeroides, respectively were high. Also, photosynthetic pigments in plants seemed to be affected. However, estimated daily intake (EDI) and provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) calculations for the human population consuming fish from this wetland remained below the FAO/WHO limits. PCA analysis revealed the anthropogenic origin of metals that might be causing adverse effects on the biota which depend on this wetland for their food.

Probabilistic Risk Analysis to Assess Dietary Exposure to Aluminum in the Taiwanese Population

Aluminum (Al) exposure at human dietary levels raises health concerns, yet little is known about the Al exposure from the Taiwanese diet. The amount of aluminum (Al)-containing food consumption in the Taiwanese total diet is increasing, which contributes to the total diet consumption., which raises the health concerns. In this study, we aim to assess estimated weekly intake (EWI) and the percentage of provisional tolerable weekly intake (%PTWI) of the dietary exposure to Al in different age-sex groups. We also applied probabilistic risk analyses to quantify the parameters' uncertainty by focusing on the distribution function for the Al concentration in food, consumption rate, and body weight in specific age groups. Results indicated that the EWIs declined with increasing age after 6-years old (7-12 > 13-15 > 16-18 > 19-64 > 65+). Results indicated that the EWIs gradually declined after 6-year of age. The EWIs of Al-rich food in cake + waffle, kelp, snacks, and bread contributed 20%, 17%, 17%, and 11%, respectively, to the total EWIs, corresponding with the much higher consumption rates for these four foods. The 75th percentile of EWIs for the children aged 34-6 years had a %PTWI valued at over 100%, indicating a potential risk of Al intake via dietary exposure. Our findings show that there is a concern about the consumption of Al-rich foods for children in Taiwan.

Snack foods and lead ingestion risks for school aged children: A comparative evaluation of potentially toxic metals and children's exposure response of blood lead, copper and zinc levels

Snack foods are common and highly advertised to children and serve their natural predispositions for sweet and salty tastes. However, the risk issues of low-cost snacks eaten by 0-6 aged children are lack of more concern. To better understand the issue of low-cost snacks this study considered potentially toxic metals (PTMs) impact on children's health risk, measured PTMs in a collection of 570 collected low-cost snacks contributed by 1342 voluntary participants children aged 0-6 years involved in Xi'an city are conducted. Nine priority PTMs and amounts ranked as Mn > Zn > Cu > Cr > Sb > Pb > Ni > Cd > Co. The Estimated Weekly Intake of PTMs in snacks for children accounted for a proportion of the Provisional Tolerance Weekly Intake. Children's daily snack ingestion of Cr, Cd and Pb were especially concerning. It was noted that all PTMs in flour products contribute to the total Target Hazard Quotient (THQ>1) were observed having a non-carcinogenic risk compared to the single metals Cr, Co and Cd with carcinogenic risk. The correlations between Cu, Pb, Zn in low-cost snacks and children's bloods reflected PTMs especially for Pb that transfers into children's bodies mostly through low-cost foodstuffs ingestion. Also, the elevated blood lead levels (BLLs) depended on readily available, low-quality snacks accessible for children. Therefore, multi-initiatives aimed at improving the quality, increasing awareness, and a PTM monitoring program for low-cost snack food market to young children should be undertaken.

Application of food description to the food classification system: Evidence of risk assessment from Taiwan as Acrylamide of grain products

Harmonization of national consumption data for international comparison is an important but challenging work, yet to date there is a lack of comparable food classification system that incorporates food description in Taiwan. In 2015, European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) released a new standardized food classification and description system called FoodEx2, which provides a flexible combination of classifications and descriptions. Based on FoodEx2 and a unique data set of daily food consumption offered by Taiwan Food Consumption Database, this study aims to provide a harmonized, food description incorporated, food classification system (HFDFC system) that captures all the useful details of food groups in exposure assessments. The HFDFC system was built according to six risk-assessment-related facets including food sources, processed products, cooking methods, manufacturers (brand), food additives and specialty foods. The HFDFC system includes 199 foods in the core list and 131 foods in the extended list. This study also compared the Acrylamide hazard index estimated under the HFDFC system with that under the National Food Consumption Database in Taiwan (NFCDT). The findings indicated that the HFDFC system provides useful and detailed information that helps the users to quickly identify food information in a harmonized manner and to reduce estimation bias. The HFDFC system is expected to facilitate global comparisons in the food risk assessment because it is built based upon EU Foodex2.

Health risk assessment of heavy metal intake due to fish consumption in the Sistan region, Iran

The heavy metal (Pb, Cd, Cr, and Ni) content of a fish species consumed by the Sistan population and its associated health risk factors were investigated. The mean concentrations of Pb, Cd, and Cr were slightly higher than the standard levels. The Ni content of fish was below the maximum guideline proposed by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA). The average estimated weekly intake was significantly below the provisional tolerable intake based on the FAO and WHO standards for all studied metals. The target hazard quotients (THQ) of all metals were below 1, showing an absence of health hazard for the population of Sistan. The combined target hazard quotient for the considered metals was 26.94 × 10^-3. The cancer risk factor for Pb (1.57 × 10^-7) was below the acceptable lifetime carcinogenic risk (10^-5). The results of this study reveal an almost safe level of Pb, Cd, Cr, and Ni contents in the fish consumed by the Sistan population. Graphical abstract ᅟ.