Publications by authors named "Elsa Vasco"

The aim of this study was to estimate the 18 to 74 years old Portuguese population's baseline exposure to inorganic arsenic, cadmium and lead and the risk of exceeding the respective Health Based Guidance Value, using a harmonised Total Diet Study (TDS) methodology. TDS food samples representative of the whole diet were prepared as consumed and analysed for total arsenic, cadmium and lead. European Food Safety Authority's conservative approach was used to estimate inorganic arsenic.

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Article Synopsis
  • Mycotoxins, like Deoxynivalenol (DON), are naturally occurring toxins from fungi linked to health issues, prompting public health concern, especially in Europe.
  • A study analyzed urinary DON levels from 1270 participants across six countries to assess exposure and identify key factors influencing it, finding notable variances based on demographics and lifestyle.
  • About 12.3% of participants had DON levels exceeding the recommended safe limit, highlighting significant exposure among certain groups and contributing valuable data on mycotoxin risks in Europe.
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The introduction of complementary foods (CFs) is a critical step in an infant's transition to solid foods, providing essential nutrients beyond breast milk. However, CFs may contain potentially toxic elements (PTEs), such as arsenic and cadmium that pose health risks to infants. In this context, understanding the bioaccessibility of PTEs is vital as it determines the fraction of a contaminant released from the food matrix and available for absorption in the gastrointestinal tract.

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Vitamin D acts in calcium and phosphate homeostasis and also as an immunomodulatory hormone. To estimate the vitamin D intake by the 'adults' and 'elderly' Portuguese populations TDS methodology was used, since in the absence of skin UVB exposure, food and supplements are the only vitamin D sources. Vitamin D was quantifiable in 78 (24 from the fish group) of the 164 TDS samples.

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As one of the core elements of the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU) a human biomonitoring (HBM) survey was conducted in 23 countries to generate EU-wide comparable HBM data. This survey has built on existing HBM capacity in Europe by aligning national or regional HBM studies, referred to as the HBM4EU Aligned Studies. The HBM4EU Aligned Studies included a total of 10,795 participants of three age groups: (i) 3,576 children aged 6-12 years, (ii) 3,117 teenagers aged 12-18 years and (iii) 4,102 young adults aged 20-39 years.

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Mycotoxins are natural metabolites produced by fungi that contaminate food and feed worldwide. They can pose a threat to human and animal health, mainly causing chronic effects, e.g.

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A harmonised TDS methodology was used to assess the Portuguese population's nitrate baseline dietary exposure and the risk of exceeding the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI). Nitrate occurrence in 164 TDS samples pooled based on 20 FoodEx2 groups, representative of 18 to 75 years old population diet, was determined using UV-HPLC. The 'vegetables' group had the highest mean nitrate concentration (353 mg/kg), followed by 'starchy roots' (62 mg/kg), 'composite dishes' (53 mg/kg) and 'fruits' (46 mg/kg).

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The first Total Diet Study (TDS) was carried out in Portugal using harmonised procedures developed under the TDS-Exposure project. This publication describes in detail the TDS planning, sample collection and preparation, filling a gap found in literature. TDS food list (1070 items) by food group for 18-74 years olds was derived using 24 h recall food consumption survey data.

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Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) during pregnancy is an acquired autoimmune disease present in 1-2 of every 1000 pregnancies. Thrombopoietin (TPO)-mimetic drugs, such as eltrombopag, have been successfully used for treatment of ITP during pregnancy, but studies regarding its safety during gestation are lacking. A 33-year-old nulliparous woman with a history of chronic ITP, presented at the emergency department with petechiae, epistaxis, bruises, conjunctival effusions and a platelet count of 3×10/L at 25 weeks gestation.

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International scientific experts in food, nutrition, dietetics, endocrinology, physical activity, paediatrics, nursing, toxicology and public health met in Lisbon on 2⁻4 July 2017 to develop a Consensus on the use of low- and no-calorie sweeteners (LNCS) as substitutes for sugars and other caloric sweeteners. LNCS are food additives that are broadly used as sugar substitutes to sweeten foods and beverages with the addition of fewer or no calories. They are also used in medicines, health-care products, such as toothpaste, and food supplements.

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Mycotoxins are secondary fungi metabolites that induce acute and chronic toxic effects in humans and animals. Simultaneous contamination of cereal-based products by multiple mycotoxins has been increasingly reported, including in food products usually consumed by children. Although some previous authors assessed the health risk of children exposed to multiple mycotoxins, scarce data are available on the risk associated with the ingestion of multiple mycotoxins through different food products.

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A total diet study (TDS) provides representative and realistic data for assessing the dietary intake of chemicals, such as contaminants and residues, and nutrients, at a population level. Reproducing the diet through collection of customarily consumed foods and their preparation as habitually eaten is crucial to ensure representativeness, i.e.

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 To characterize the most common peripheral and central neurological disorders during pregnancy.  Original research and review of the literature on neurological complications during pregnancy. We searched for keywords related to the topic on different databases.

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A total diet study (TDS) is a public health tool for determination of population dietary exposure to chemicals across the entire diet. TDSs have been performed in several countries but the comparability of data produced is limited. Harmonisation of the TDS methodology is therefore desirable and the development of comparable TDS food lists is considered essential to achieve the consistency between countries.

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Humans can be exposed to multiple chemicals, but current risk assessment is usually carried out on one chemical at a time. Mycotoxins are commonly found in a variety of foods including those intended to consumption by children namely breakfast cereals. The present study aims to perform, the risk assessment of single and multiple mycotoxins present in breakfast cereals consumed by children (1-3 years old) from Lisbon region, Portugal.

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Commercial infant food labelled as from organic and conventional origin (n = 87) was analysed for total mercury content using a direct mercury analyser (DMA). Median contents of mercury were 0.50, 0.

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Commercial baby food labelled as from organic or conventional origin, including vegetable-based baby foods, fruit purees and fruit juices (n = 80), were analysed for nitrate content by an in-house validated HPLC method. Nitrate contents ranged from 5 to 230 mg kg(-1) with a mean concentration of 102 mg kg(-1) for vegetable-based baby foods, and a median of 5 mg kg(-1) for both fruit purees and juices. One sample of vegetable-based baby food was higher than the legislated value (200 mg kg(-1)).

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Objectives: We aimed to estimate the optimal time of delivery and investigated the residual risk of fetal death after viability in otherwise uncomplicated monochorionic diamniotic twin pregnancies.

Study Design: A database of 576 completed multiple pregnancies that were managed in our tertiary referral fetal medicine department between 1996 and 2007 was reviewed and the uncomplicated 111 monochorionic and the 290 dichorionic diamniotic twin pregnancies delivered after 24 weeks were selected. The rate of fetal death was derived for two-week periods starting at 24 weeks' gestation and the prospective risk of fetal death was calculated by determining the number of intrauterine fetal deaths that occurred within the two-week block divided by the number of continuing uncomplicated monochorionic twin pregnancies during that same time period.

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