Environmental Health: Mycotoxin Risk Assessment in Food Supply Report

This report focuses on the risk assessment of mycotoxins in the global food supply, highlighting their prevalence in various food sources like cereals, nuts, and grape juice. It examines the impact of mycotoxins on human and animal health, as well as their presence in the agricultural and poultry industries. The report details common risk identification processes, including what-if analysis and HAZOP studies, alongside the problems associated with mycotoxin contamination. It explores hazard identification through cell and tissue culture assays and SAR models, dose-response evaluation using NOEL and LD50 parameters, and exposure assessment involving characterization, pathway identification, and quantification. The report concludes with risk characterization, comparing the population ADD with the PMTDI of the agent, referencing relevant studies by Al-Husnan, Al-Kahtani and Farag (2019), Elzupir et al. (2018), and Heshmati et al. (2017). This analysis provides a comprehensive overview of the methodologies and considerations involved in assessing the risks posed by mycotoxins in the food supply chain.

Running head: ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
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Risk assessment of Mycotoxins in the global food supply:
Mycotoxins usually naturally occurring toxin produced a range of molds and it is highly
prevalent in food. Myco toxins usually found in grape juice, cereals, and nut crops. According to
the world health organization, mycotoxins in staple crops continued to be the most significant
foodborne risk for human health.
Example of mycotoxin risk assessment:
Apart from the food industry, mycotoxins are highly prevalent in the agricultural industry
and poultry industry. In the agricultural industry, it is highly associated with loss of human and
animal life, increased cost of food and reduced lives stoke production. Similarly, in the poultry
industry, it is associated with loss of life of poultry (Elzupir et al., 2018). Therefore, two
common processes of risk identifications used in the industry for mycotoxin identification can be
what-if analysis for identifying threats and hazards and hazard and operability study (HAZOP).
Problem formulation:
Mycotoxins are highly prevalent in the food industry due to lack of maintenance of
hygiene, lack of hygienic designs of the equipment and lack of involvement in the aseptic
practice by workers. The common problems associated with mycotoxin includes borborygmy,
gastrointestinal disturbances and abdominal pain, diarrhea.
Hazard identification:
While animal studies and human studies are used for risk identification, most prevalent
studies for mycotoxin identification is Cell and tissue culture assays where isolated cells and
tissues are maintaine in the culture after exposure to the hazard agents. Structure-activity

relationship (SAR) models are also effective for identifying the risk where the characterization of
the food would be done based on the chemical structure before exposure to the toxin.
Dose-response evaluation:
As discussed by Al-Husnan, Al-Kahtani and Farag (2019), dose-response assessment of
mycotoxin usually addresses toxic as well as carcinogenic properties separately and even if an
agent like Alfa-toxin can exhibit both types of effects on humans and animals. The NOEL is one
parameter that is used for evaluating the toxicity of mycotoxins. On the other hand, the median
lethal dose (LD50) is the parameters used for a toxin that when directed to a group of animals.
Exposure assessment:
Three steps of the exposure include characterization of the exposure setting,
identification of exposure pathway and quantifying exposure. The total exposure amount during
that given time is expressed as the sum of concentrations Cover the exposure duration: E = ∫C(t)
dt. The quantity can be measured by using questionnaires or food diaries and consumption of the
mycotoxin been eaten (Heshmati et al., 2017).
Risk characterization:
For risk characterization, toxic effects of the mycotoxin can be done when the population
ADD of an agent is compared with the PMTDI of the agent (Heshmati et al., 2017).
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References:
Al-Husnan, L., Al-Kahtani, M., & Farag, R. (2019). Molecular Characterization of Fumonisin
Mycotoxin Genes of Fusarium sp Isolated from Corn and Rice Grains. Sultan Qaboos
University Journal for Science [SQUJS], 24(2), 78-87.
Elzupir, A. O., Alamer, A. S., AlRajhi, M., & Idriss, H. (2018). Assessment of health risks from
aflatoxins in rice commercialised in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Quality
Assurance and Safety of Crops & Foods, 10(3), 255-260.
Heshmati, A., Zohrevand, T., Khaneghah, A. M., Nejad, A. S. M., & Sant’Ana, A. S. (2017). Co-
occurrence of aflatoxins and ochratoxin A in dried fruits in Iran: Dietary exposure risk
assessment. Food and Chemical Toxicology, 106, 202-208.