Algerian Workers’ Exposure to Mycotoxins—A Biomonitoring Study

Marta I. Mendes, Sara C. Cunha (), Iméne Rebai and José O. Fernandes ()
Additional contact information
Marta I. Mendes: LAQV-REQUIMTE, Laboratory of Bromatology and Hydrology, Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
Sara C. Cunha: LAQV-REQUIMTE, Laboratory of Bromatology and Hydrology, Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
Iméne Rebai: Laboratory of Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, Salah Boubnider University 3, Constantine 5000, Algeria
José O. Fernandes: LAQV-REQUIMTE, Laboratory of Bromatology and Hydrology, Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 16, 1-12

Abstract: Mycotoxins, produced by fungi as secondary metabolites, have the potential to induce both short-term and long-term toxic consequences in animals and humans. The present study aimed to determine multi-mycotoxin levels in Algerian workers using urine as the target. A method based on a QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe) extraction procedure followed by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was optimized and validated for the determination of eleven mycotoxins in 96 urine samples. Different sorbents were tested to be used in the dispersive solid-phase extraction (d-SPE) cleanup step of QuEChERS. The final method was fit-for-purpose and showed good analytical performance in terms of specificity, linearity, and precision. All samples contained at least two mycotoxins, and toxin-2 (T-2) was the most common, being found in 92.7% of the samples, followed by zearalenone (ZEN) in 90.6% of positive samples, and ochratoxin A (OTA) in 86.4%. T-2 levels ranged from 0.3 μg/L to 36.3 μg/L, while OTA ranged from 0.3 μg/L to 3.5 μg/L, and ZEN ranged from 7.6 μg/L to 126.8 μg/L. This was the first mycotoxin biomonitoring study carried out in the Algerian population. The findings highlight the need for accurate data for better risk assessment and for the development of better regulation to manage mycotoxin contamination in this country.

Keywords: multiple mycotoxin analysis; urine biomonitoring; exposure assessment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/16/6566/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/16/6566/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:16:p:6566-:d:1215780

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().