Browsing by Author "Santiago, S"
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- Are Portuguese women of childbearing age exposed to environmental mercury? The One Health perspectivePublication . Santiago, S; Namorado, S.; Dias, C.M.; Nascimento, A.; Martins, C.; Santos, M.; Carvalho, C.; Assunção, R.One health, a transdisciplinary approach, recognizes the interconnection between human, animals and their shared environment. Fish and seafood are important sources of high-biological value proteins, omega-3 fatty acids and essential minerals. However, it can contain environmental contaminants, such as mercury compounds. Long-lived predatory fish species, such as tuna or swordfish, are an important human exposure source. Thus, only through a transdisciplinary approach, namely using one health perspective, is it possible to properly tackle the issue of mercury at different levels. Methylmercury, the most toxic mercury form, mainly targets the central nervous system, and the prenatal period represents a period of greatest vulnerability regarding neurodevelopmental effects on the fetus. Portugal has a tradition of high consumption of fishery and aquaculture products, higher than in the European Union (EU) countries and above both EU and world averages. The present research aimed to evaluate the exposure of Portuguese women of childbearing age to mercury through human biomonitoring and to determine mercury contamination in fish available in Portuguese markets. For this study, 300 Portuguese women of childbearing age (25 to 44 years) were randomly selected in a cross-sectional epidemiological study carried out in Portugal (INSEF, http://www.insef.pt/) in 2015. Also, 24 different species of fish and fishery and aquaculture products acquired on the Portuguese market and representative of Portuguese consumption were selected. This study reinforces the need to develop and implement Portugal risk communication strategies focused on selecting fish species with lower mercury levels to protect susceptible populations from exposure to this chemical while simultaneously promoting the important health benefits of fish consumption and applying a One Health approach.
- Sodium and Potassium Intake from School MealsPublication . Santos, Mariana; Nascimento, Ana C.; Santiago, S; Calhau, M.A.; Rito, A.; Loureiro, IsabelIntroduction: Children consume more than one-third of their daily food intake in schools, suggesting that these environments are ideal places for intervening on poor dietary behaviours. School meals play an important role in children’s diet especially for elementary school children aged from 6 to 9 years, to support normal growth, as well as the acquisition of taste and food preferences. Methodology: The purpose of this study was to determine the contribution of school meals to the daily sodium (Na) and potassium (K) intake and to evaluate the molar sodium: potassium (Na:K) ratio for the school meals. In this study, 19 school meals were collected from nineteen primary schools, located in two different cities in the Lisbon district. Analyses were carried out in accordance with ISO standard 17025. Sodium and potassium levels were determined using an Inductively Couple Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry–ICP-OES. To calculate the average molar Na:K ratio, sodium and potassium in micrograms (mg) were converted to millimoles (mmol) using the following conversion: 23 mg Na = 1 mmol Na, 39 mg K = 1 mmol K. Results: The Na content of the samples analysed ranging from 155 to 293 mg/100g and the K content between 98-193 mg/100g. The molar Na:K ratio exceeded the recommend level of 1, the values were between 2.2-4.3 (mmol). The results indicate that most of the school-meals presented a large amount of Na, but a small amount of K. In addition, the Na:K ratio is likely to be higher and doesn´t meet the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendation for a Na:K ratio of ≤1. Conclusions: These data enhance the importance of planning the school meals to achieve a reasonable amount of sodium and potassium accordingly to the recommendations for children population and to make informed decisions on appropriate nutrition actions to reduce potential risks for noncommunicable diseases.