Exposure estimates to Fusarium mycotoxins through cereals intake Yelko Rodríguez-Carrasco ⇑ , María José Ruiz, Guillermina Font, Houda Berrada ⇑ University of Valencia, Department of Food Science, Av. Vicent Andrés Estellés s/n, 46100 Burjassot, Spain highlights  Screening of ten mycotoxins in 159 cereal-based products was carried out by GC–MS/MS.  65.4% of samples showed contamination by one mycotoxin and 15.7% co-occurrence.  Probable daily intake were below tolerable daily intake for average consumers.  Infants, children and high consumers could exceed the safety limits of some mycotoxin.  A vigilant attitude to minimize human intake of mycotoxins is required. article info Article history: Received 21 February 2013 Received in revised form 21 July 2013 Accepted 29 July 2013 Available online 3 September 2013 Keywords: Exposure assessment Mycotoxins Cereal-based Population groups Infants abstract Mycotoxins are harmful substances produced by fungi in several commodities with a widespread pres- ence in foodstuffs. Human exposure to mycotoxins occurs mainly by contaminated food. The quantitation of mycotoxins in cereal-based food, highly consumed by different age population, is of concern. In this survey, 159 cereal-based samples classified as wheat, maize and rice-based, have been evaluated for the occurrence of patulin, deoxynivalenol, 3-acetyl-deoxynivalenol, fusarenon-X, diacetoxyscirpenol, nivalenol, neosolaniol, HT-2, T-2 and zearalenone by gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Intakes were calculated for average consumers among adults, children and infants and compared with the tolerable daily intakes (TDI). Data obtained were used to estimate the potential exposure levels. 65.4% of the samples were contaminated with at least one mycotoxin and 15.7% of the analyzed samples showed co-occurrence of mycotoxin. The dietary exposure to HT-2 and T-2 toxins was estimated as 0.010 and 0.086 lg kg 1 bw d 1 , amounting to 10% and 86% of the TDI, for adults and infants respectively. These results back up the necessity to take a vigilant attitude in order to minimize human intake of mycotoxins. Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by a wide vari- ety of fungal species leading nutritional losses and representing a significant hazard to the food chain (Mankeviciene et al., 2011). In fact, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) has estimated that one-quarter of the world’s food crop is contaminated, to some extent, with mycotoxins (JECFA, 2001). The molds ability to pro- duce mycotoxins is greatly influenced by environmental factors, being the most important temperature, relative humidity, insect damage, drought and inadequate storage conditions (Miraglia et al., 2009; Prandini et al., 2009). The Fusarium toxins such as the trichothecenes and zearalenone, occur mainly in cereals grown in more moderate climates. While these contaminants may be of lower toxicity than aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, etc., their occurrence in food commodities that are eaten more widely by consumers means that levels must also be rigorously controlled in food and feed. Thus, the occurrence of mycotoxins in agricultural commod- ities has been recognized as a potential hazard for the human and animal health. Among the thousands of species of fungi, only about 100 belonging to genera Fusarium Aspergillus, Penicillium, Alternaria, Claviceps, etc. are known to produce mycotoxins. Trichothecenes and zearalonene constitute one of the largest groups of mycotoxins produced by Fusarium in cereal grains. Most Fusarium species pro- duce either type A or type B trichothecenes. Type A trichothecenes includes HT-2 and T-2 toxins, diacetoxyscirpenol (DAS) and neoso- laniol (NEO). Type B trichothecenes is mainly represented by deoxynivalenol (DON) and byits derivates 3-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (3-ADON) and 15-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (15-ADON). Other type B trichothecenes are fusarenon-X (FUS-X) and nivalenol (NIV). Immunosuppressive and immunomodulatory effects were de- scribed as trichothecenes toxicological effect. Zearalenone (ZON) has high oestrogenic activity and can be an important etiologic agent of intoxication in young children (Zinedine et al., 2007; Metzler et al., 2010). Patulin (PAT) is produced by different species of Penicillium, Aspergillus, and Byssochlamys and it is related to neurotoxic, immunotoxic and gastrointestinal effects in animals. 0045-6535/$ - see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2013.07.086 ⇑ Corresponding authors. Tel.: +34 963544117; fax: +34 963544954 (H. Berrada). E-mail address: Houda.Berrada@uv.es (H. Berrada). Chemosphere 93 (2013) 2297–2303 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Chemosphere journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/chemosphere