Update of the risk assessment of nickel in food and drinking water

The European Commission asked EFSA to update its previous Opinion on nickel in food and drinking water, taking into account new occurrence data, the updated benchmark dose (BMD) Guidance and newly available scientific information. More than 47,000 analytical results on the occurrence of nickel were used for calculating chronic and acute dietary exposure. An increased incidence of post-implantation loss in rats was identified as the critical effect for the risk characterisation of chronic oral exposure and a BMDL 10 of 1.3 mg Ni/kg body weight (bw) per day was selected as the reference point for the establishment of a tolerable daily intake (TDI) of 13 μg/kg bw. Eczematous flare-up reactions in the skin elicited in nickel-sensitised humans, a condition known as systemic contact dermatitis, was identified as the critical effect for the risk characterisation of acute oral exposure. A BMDL could not be derived, and therefore, the lowest-observed-adverse-effect-level of 4.3 μg Ni/kg bw was selected as the reference point. The margin of exposure (MOE) approach was applied and an MOE of 30 or higher was considered as being indicative of a low health concern. The mean lower bound (LB)/upper bound (UB) chronic dietary exposure was below or at the level of the TDI. The 95th percentile LB/UB chronic dietary exposure was below the TDI in adolescents and in all adult age groups, but generally exceeded the TDI in toddlers and in other children, as well as in infants in some surveys. This may raise a health concern in these young age groups. The MOE values for the mean UB acute dietary exposure and for the 95th percentile UB raises a health concern for nickel-sensitised individuals. The MOE values for an acute scenario regarding consumption of a glass of water on an empty stomach do not raise a health concern.

Heavy metal contamination, microbiological spoilage and biogenic amine content in sushi available on the Polish market

BACKGROUND

The present study determined the heavy metal contamination (mercury, cadmium, lead, arsenic and nickel) of nori, restaurant-served sushi and ready-to-eat sushi meals available via retail chains. Moreover, both microbiological load and biogenic amine content in ready-to-eat sushi meals were analysed.

RESULTS

All of the nori samples contained high levels of Cd (2.122 mg kg^-1 ), Ni (0.715 mg kg^-1 ), As (34.56 mg kg^-1 ) and Pb (0.659 mg kg^-1 ). The studied sushi samples contained high levels of Ni and Pb, reaching 0.194 and 0.142 mg kg^-1 wet weight, respectively, being potentially hazardous to women during pregnancy and lactation and small children. None of the studied samples contained high levels of Hg. Overall, 37% of ready-to-eat sushi meals exceeded a microbiological load of 10⁶  cfu g^-1 . However, biogenic amine content in all of the samples was low, with a highest histamine content of 2.05 mg kg^-1 .

CONCLUSION

Sushi is not the source of high levels of biogenic amines even with high microbiological loads. Nevertheless, the high microbiological loads at the end of the shelf-life indicate that some processors might have problems with the distribution chain or implement a poor hygienic regime. Moreover as a result of possible risk associated with heavy metal contamination, the present study highlights the need to establish new regulations regarding the contamination of nori and sushi. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Maternal exposure to nickel in relation to preterm delivery

Prior studies have suggested the reproductive effects of nickel; however, few epidemiological studies have investigated the associations of maternal exposure to nickel with preterm delivery. To investigate prenatal exposure to nickel as a risk factor for preterm delivery (< 37 weeks) in a large birth cohort. A total of 7291 pregnant women participated in the study were recruited between September 2012 and October 2014 in the longitudinal Healthy Baby Cohort (HBC) in Wuhan, China. Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry was employed to examine levels of nickel in urine from pregnant women collected before labor. The median urinary creatinine-corrected nickel was 5.05 creatinine μg/g with an inter-quartile range of 2.65-9.51 creatinine μg/g. We adjusted for potential confounders and found that each doubling in concentration of maternal urinary nickel was associated with an increase of 16% in adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for preterm delivery (95% CI: 1.08, 1.24). The associations were consistent for both spontaneous and iatrogenic preterm delivery. Our findings suggest that higher maternal urinary nickel concentrations were associated with an increased risk of preterm delivery.

Exposure to fine particulate matter during pregnancy and risk of term low birth weight in Jinan, China, 2014-2016

BACKGROUND

Existing studies exploring the association between low birth weight (LBW) and maternal fine particulate matter (aerodynamic diameter<2.5μm, PM_2.5) exposure have presented equivocal results, and one of the possible reasons for this finding might be due to relatively low maternal exposures. In addition, relatively narrow maternal exposure windows to PM_2.5 have not been well established for LBW.

METHODS

We employed a nested matched case-control design among 43,855 term births in a large maternity and child care hospital in Jinan, China. A total of 369 cases were identified, and four controls per case matched by maternal age were randomly selected among those with normal birth weight (n=1,476) from 2014 to 2016. Ambient air monitoring data on continuous measures of PM_2.5, nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), and sulfur dioxide (SO₂) (24-h average concentrations) from 2013 to 2016 were collected from thirteen local monitoring stations. An inverse distance weighting method based on both home and work addresses was adopted to estimate the individual daily exposures to these air pollutants during pregnancy by weighting the average of the twelve nearest monitoring stations within 30km of each 100m×100m grid cell by an inverse squared distance, and then the average exposure concentrations for gestational months, trimesters and the entire pregnancy were calculated. Adjusted conditional logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) per 10μg/m³ increment in PM_2.5 and by PM_2.5 quartiles during different gestational periods.

RESULTS

In this study, the estimated mean values of PM_2.5, NO₂, and SO₂ exposure during the entire pregnancy were 88.0, 54.6, and 63.1μg/m³, respectively. Term low birth weight (TLBW) increased in association with per 10μg/m³ increment in PM_2.5 for the 8th month [OR=1.13, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.04, 1.22], the 9th month (OR=1.06, 95% CI: 0.99, 1.15), the third trimester (OR=1.17, 95% CI: 1.05, 1.29), and the entire pregnancy (OR=1.38, 95% CI: 1.07, 1.77) in models adjusted for one pollutant (PM_2.5). In models categorizing the PM_2.5 exposure by quartiles, comparing the second, third, and highest with the lowest PM_2.5 exposure quartile, the PM_2.5 was positively associated with TLBW during the 8th month (OR: 1.77, 95% CI: 1.09, 2.88; OR: 1.77, 95% CI: 1.03, 3.04; OR: 1.92, 95% CI: 1.04, 3.55, respectively) and for the 9th month, only association for exposure in the third versus the lowest quartile was significant (OR: 1.91, 95% CI: 1.02, 3.58).

CONCLUSIONS

The study provides evidence that exposure to PM_2.5 during pregnancy might be associated with the risk of TLBW in the context of very high pollution level of PM_2.5, and the 8th and 9th months were identified as potentially relevant exposure windows.

The C57BL/6J mice offspring originated from a parental generation exposed to tannery effluents shows object recognition deficits

The main aim of the present paper is to assess whether the parental generation exposure to such discharges could cause object recognition deficits in their offspring. Male and female C57Bl/6J mice were put to mate after they were exposed to 7.5% and 15% tannery effluents or water (control group), for 60 days. The male mice were withdrawn from the boxes after 15 days and the female mice remained exposed to the treatment during the gestation and lactation periods. The offspring were subjected to the object recognition test after weaning in order to assess possible cognition losses. The results of the analysis of the novel object recognition index found in the testing session (performed 1 h after the training session) applied to offspring from different experimental groups appeared to be statistically different. The novel object recognition index of the offspring from female mice exposed to tannery effluents (7.5% and 15% groups) was lower than that of the control group, and it demonstrated object recognition deficit in the studied offspring. The present study is the first to report evidences that parental exposure to effluent of tannery (father and mother) can cause object recognition deficit in the offspring, which is related to problems in the central nervous system.