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Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2020-11-03"

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  • Biological effects of ingested nanomaterials and potential adverse outcomes for human health
    Publication . Vieira, Adriana; Gramacho, Ana Catarina; Rolo, Dora; Vital, Nádia; Pereira, Joana; Matos, Paulo; Jordan, Peter; Martins, Carla; Assunção, Ricardo; Alvito, Paula; Gonçalves, Lídia; Bettencourt, Ana F.; Silva, Maria João; Louro, Henriqueta
    The technology based on manufactured nanomaterials (NMs) has been pointed as key enabling technology, due to its potential to improve many products and processes, namely in agriculture, food and feed industry, leading to an exponential growth. Many products, already available, have NMs, such titanium dioxide NMs used as food additives, and many others are in development. Oral exposure may occur either directly, through the consumption of products/pharmaceuticals containing NMs, or indirectly, through the ingestion of foods contaminated with NMs released from food-contact materials or even through concentration in the food chain due to environmental accumulation. Therefore, the gastrointestinal tract appears to be a probable route of exposure to NMs and may lead to systemic exposure if the body barriers are surpassed. One major concern for public health is that NMs may produce biological effects, such as genotoxicity that are associated with increased risk of cancer. Although NMs have been extensively investigated in recent years, the studies have generated contradictory results, possibly due to differences in the physicochemical properties of the NMs studied and to other variables in the test systems. This work aimed to investigate the nano-bio interactions of titanium dioxide NMs, at cellular and molecular level, in the context of intestinal tract and digestion processes, to better understand their potential adverse impacts on human health. The results of the NMs uptake by intestinal cells, as well as their cytotoxic and genotoxic effects will be presented. This nanotoxicology approach may be incorporated at early-stage in the development of new NMs for food industry, in a “safe-by-design” approach that will enable safety to keep pace with innovation.
    2020-11-03Conference object Restricted access Show more
  • Deoxynivalenol exposure assessment through a modelling approach of food intake and biomonitoring data – A contribution to the risk assessment of an enteropathogenic mycotoxin
    Publication . Martins, Carla; Torres, Duarte; Lopes, Carla; Correia, Daniela; Goios, Ana; Assunção, Ricardo; Alvito, Paula; Vidal, Arnau; De Boevre, Marthe; De Saeger, Sarah; Nunes, Carla
    Deoxynivalenol (DON), an enteropathogenic mycotoxin produced by Fusarium species, is usually associated with adverse health outcomes such as gastrointestinal diseases and immunotoxicity. To estimate DON exposure of the Portuguese population at national level, a modelling approach, based on data from 94 Portuguese volunteers, was developed considering the inputs of the food consumption data generated within the National Food and Physical Activity Survey and the human biomonitoring data used to assess the exposure to DON. Ten models of association between DON urinary biomarkers and food items (pasta, cookies, biscuits, sweets, bread, rusks, nuts, oilseeds, beer, meat, milk) were established. Applying the most adequate model to the consumption data (n = 5811) of the general population, the exposure estimates of the Probable Daily Intake revealed that a fraction (0.1%) of the Portuguese population might exceed the Tolerable Daily Intake defined for DON. The analysis stratified by age revealed children (3.2%) and adolescents (6.0%) are more likely to exceed the Tolerable Daily Intake for DON. Although the unavoidable uncertainties, these results are important contributions to understand the exposure to this mycotoxin in Portugal, to assess the associated risk and the potential public health consequences.
    2020-11-03Journal article Restricted access Show more