© Te Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Occupational Hygiene Society. • 176 Occupational Exposure to Afatoxin B1 in a Portuguese Poultry Slaughterhouse Susana Viegas 1,2 *, Luísa Veiga 3 , Ana Almeida 3 , Mateus dos Santos 1 , Elisabete Carolino 1 and Carla Viegas 1,4 1.Environment and Health RG, Lisbon School of Health Technology, Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon, Av. D. João II, lote 4.69.01, Parque das Nações, 1990-096 Lisboa, Portugal; 2.Centro de Investigação em Saúde Pública (CISP/ENSP/UNL), 1600-560 Lisbon, Portugal; 3.Lisbon School of Health Technology, Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal; 4.Faculty of Medicine, Environmental Health Institute, Lisbon University, Lisbon, Portugal *Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +351218980430; fax:+351218980460; e-mail: susana.viegas@estesl.ipl.pt Submited 2 August 2015; revised 9 October 2015; revised version accepted 12 October 2015. ABSTRACT Afatoxin B 1 (AFB 1 ) is a secondary metabolite produced by the fungi Aspergillus favus and is the most potent hepatocarcinogen known in mammals and has been classifed by the International Agency of Research on Cancer as Group 1 carcinogen. Although dietary exposure to AFB 1 has been extensively documented, there are still few studies dedicated to the problem of occupational exposure. Considering recent fndings regarding AFB 1 occupational exposure in poultry production, it was considered relevant to clarify if there is also exposure in poultry slaughterhouses. Occupational exposure assessment to AFB 1 was done with a biomarker of internal dose that measures AFB 1 in the serum by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Tirty workers from a slaughterhouse were enrolled in this study. A control group (n = 30) was also considered in order to know AFB 1 background levels for Portuguese popula- tion. Fourteen workers (47.0%) showed detectable levels of AFB 1 with values from 1.06 to 4.03 ng ml −1 , with a mean value of 1.73 ng ml −1 . No AFB 1 was detected in serum of individuals used as controls. Despite uncertainties regarding the exposure route that is contributing more to exposure (inhalation or dermal) is possible to state that exposure to AFB 1 is occurring in the slaughterhouse studied. It seems that reducing AFB 1 contamination in poultry production can have a positive result in this occupational seting. KEY WORDS: afatoxin B1; occupational exposure; poultry slaughterhouse INTRODUCTION Afatoxins are secondary metabolites produced under certain environmental conditions (temperature, water activity, substrate composition, and pH or modifed atmospheres) by species from Aspergillus section Flavi ( favus and parasiticus) (Bhatnagar et al., 2006). Among all afatoxins, afatoxin B1 (AFB 1 ) is normally predominant in food cultures and products (example: peanuts, maize, rice, tree nuts, coton seeds, spices, green tea, and milk) and is also the one with highest toxicity (Elshafe et al., 2011; Saini and Kaur, 2012). It is the most potent hepatocarcinogen known in mam- mals and due to that is classifed by the International Agency of Research on Cancer as Group 1 carcinogen. Ann. Occup. Hyg., 2016, Vol. 60, No. 2, 176–183 doi:10.1093/annhyg/mev077 Advance Access publication 13 November 2015 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/annweh/article/60/2/176/2196316 by guest on 21 June 2022