Toxicological effects, residue levels and risks of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in Chinese medicine: a review

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) that is used worldwide possesses the satisfactory function of disease prevention, treatment and health care, and this natural medicine seems to be favored due to its low side effects. Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), which exist in all aspects of our lives, may interfere with the synthesis, action and metabolism of human sex steroid hormones, resulting in the development and fertility problems as well as obesity and the disturbance of energy homeostasis. From planting to processing, TCM may be polluted by various EDCs. Many studies pay attention to this problem, but there are still few reviews on the residues and toxicity risks of EDCs in TCM. In this paper, researches related to EDCs in TCM were screened. The possible contamination sources of TCM from planting to processing and its toxic effects were introduced. Moreover, the residues of metals, pesticides and other EDCs in TCM as well as the health risks of human exposure to EDCs through ingestion of TCM materials were reviewed.

Occurrence of quinolones in cultured fish from Shandong Province, China and their health risk assessment

The residue levels of 6 quinolones in 160 cultured fish samples from Shandong Province, China were investigated using UPLC-MS/MS. The detection rate was 43.1% and enrofloxacin had the highest detection rate as well as the highest residue concentration. The violation rates were 2.50% for the sum of enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin and 1.25% for ofloxacin. Among the 9 fish species, quinolone contamination problems should receive more attention in Carp, Grass carp, Crucian and Catfish. The health risk assessment showed that when calculated by the maximum concentration, the estimated daily intakes (EDIs) of Carp, Grass carp and Crucian for the high consumption group accounted for more than 10% of the acceptable daily intakes (ADIs), indicating that a large intake of these fish species might pose a potential health risk and health risk monitoring of quinolones in cultured fish should be continually performed.

Safety assessment of chromafenozide residue level with decline study on tomato in Egypt

The objective of this study is to perform a safety assessment of chromafenozide residue level on tomato at the Egyptian national level. An open field decline study of chromafenozide on tomato was performed. The theoretical maximum daily intake (TMDI) of chromafenozide was calculated for assessing the chronic dietary exposure indicating that the ADI value of chromafenozide (0.27 mg/kg bw/day) was not exceeded. As a result, the safety assessment of chromafenozide residue levels was attained. A validated method of the QuEChERS approach followed by HPLC-DAD analysis was used to determine the chromafenozide residues. The recoveries ranged from 70 to 88% with relative standard deviations ranging from 2.0 to 9.0%. The limit of quantitation was 0.01 mg/kg. The half-life of chromafenozide on tomatoes was 3.5 days.

Investigation of diethylstilbestrol residue level in human urine samples by a specific monoclonal antibody

Diethylstilbestrol (DES) is used as a kind of animal feed additive and affects people's health through the food chain. The purpose of this study is to detect the residue level of DES in 576 human urine samples directly. DES-BSA was used to immunize Balb/c mice. The monoclonal antibody was produced by hybridoma that was screened through cell fusion techniques. Finally, we developed the indirect competitive ELISA method to analyze 576 human urine samples from Zhejiang Province, China. The IC₅₀ of this method was 3.33 ng/mL. The LOD and LOQ were 0.16 and 0.54 ng/mL. Linear range of the standard curve was from LOD to 12.50 ng/mL. There was no cross-reactivity with two kinds of estrogens and two structural analogs with DES. Five hundred seventy-six urine samples were analyzed by the indirect competitive ELISA method, and the detection rate was 98.78%. The mean concentration and geometric mean were 4.70 and 3.50 ng/mL. The indirect competitive ELISA method based on monoclonal antibody was sensitive and reliable for the detection of DES in human urine samples. The results warned us to pay more attention to human health and food safety.

Dissipation and metabolism of tebufenozide in cabbage and soil under open field conditions in South China

The novel nonsteroidal ecdysone agonist tebufenozide is capable of controlling a wide range of lepidopteran pests. However its intensive use in vegetables has raised concerns towards the safety of food and environment. Here, we developed an easy and reliable method to analyze tebufenozide in cabbage and soil by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The average recoveries of tebufenozide ranged from 72.01% to 101.10% with the relative standard deviations (RSD)<6%, and the LOD and LOQ were 0.02µgg^-1 and 0.05µgg^-1, respectively. According to the dissipation study, the half-lives of tebufenozide were 2.96 and 4.08 d in cabbage and 4.95-7.70d in soil, respectively. The final residues were determined below the maximum residue limit (MRL) (0.5mgkg^-1) after a pre-harvest interval (PHI) of 7d. Moreover, its major metabolites were identified by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) on LTQ-Orbitrap XL, which leading to the first report of the degradation pathway of tebufenozide in cabbage. The present study is expected to provide basic data for the use guidance and safety evaluation of tebufenozide in agricultural crops and environment.