Oogenesis is the central process required to produce viable oocytes in female mammals. It is initiated during embryonic development, and it involves the specification of primordial germ cells (PGCs) and progresses through the activation of the meiotic program, reaching a crucial phase in prophase I before pausing at diplotene around the time of birth. The significance of meiosis, particularly the prophase I stage, cannot be overstated, as it plays a pivotal role in ensuring the formation of healthy gametes, a prerequisite for successful reproduction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe European Commission asked EFSA to update its 2011 risk assessment on tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) and five derivatives in food. Neurotoxicity and carcinogenicity were considered as the critical effects of TBBPA in rodent studies. The available evidence indicates that the carcinogenicity of TBBPA occurs via non-genotoxic mechanisms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe European Commission asked EFSA for a risk assessment on small organoarsenic species in food. For monomethylarsonic acid MMA(V), decreased body weight resulting from diarrhoea in rats was identified as the critical endpoint and a BMDL of 18.2 mg MMA(V)/kg body weight (bw) per day (equivalent to 9.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEFSA was asked for a scientific opinion on the risks for animal and human health related to the presence of polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) in feed and food. The assessment focused on hexaCNs due to very limited data on other PCN congeners. For hexaCNs in feed, 217 analytical results were used to estimate dietary exposures for food-producing and non-food-producing animals; however, a risk characterisation could not be performed because none of the toxicological studies allowed identification of reference points.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEFSA J
January 2024
The European Commission asked EFSA to update its 2011 risk assessment on polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in food, focusing on 10 congeners: , -, -, -, -, -, -, -, - and ‑. The CONTAM Panel concluded that the neurodevelopmental effects on behaviour and reproductive/developmental effects are the critical effects in rodent studies. For four congeners (, -, -, -) the Panel derived Reference Points, i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe European Commission requested EFSA to provide an update of the 2012 Scientific Opinion of the Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM) on the risks for animal health related to the presence of ergot alkaloids (EAs) in feed. EAs are produced by several fungi of the and genera. This Opinion focussed on the 14 EAs produced by (ergocristine, ergotamine, ergocornine, α- and β-ergocryptine, ergometrine, ergosine and their corresponding 'inine' epimers).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe European Commission asked EFSA to update its 2009 risk assessment on arsenic in food carrying out a hazard assessment of inorganic arsenic (iAs) and using the revised exposure assessment issued by EFSA in 2021. Epidemiological studies show that the chronic intake of iAs via diet and/or drinking water is associated with increased risk of several adverse outcomes including cancers of the skin, bladder and lung. The CONTAM Panel used the benchmark dose lower confidence limit based on a benchmark response (BMR) of 5% (relative increase of the background incidence after adjustment for confounders, BMDL) of 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis statement provides scientific guidance on the information needed to support the risk assessment of the detoxification processes applied to products intended for animal feed in line with the acceptability criteria of the Commission Regulation (EU) 2015/786.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn 2004, the EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM) adopted a Scientific Opinion on the risks to animal health and transfer from feed to food of animal origin related to the presence of ochratoxin A (OTA) in feed. The European Commission requested EFSA to assess newly available scientific information and to update the 2004 Scientific Opinion. OTA is produced by several fungi of the genera and .
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMineral oil hydrocarbons (MOH) are composed of saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH) and aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAH). Due to the complexity of the MOH composition, their complete chemical characterisation is not possible. MOSH accumulation is observed in various tissues, with species-specific differences.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe European Commission requested EFSA to provide an assessment of the processing conditions which make seeds non-viable in feed materials and compound feed. This assessment also includes information on a reliable procedure to verify the non-viability of the seeds. seeds are known contaminants in feed with maximum levels set in the Directive 2002/32/EC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEFSA was asked for a scientific opinion on the risks to public health related to the presence of -nitrosamines (-NAs) in food. The risk assessment was confined to those 10 carcinogenic -NAs occurring in food (TCNAs), i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe European Commission asked EFSA for a scientific opinion on the risks for human health of the presence of grayanotoxins (GTXs) in 'certain honey' from Ericaceae plants. The risk assessment included all structurally related grayananes occurring with GTXs in 'certain' honey. Oral exposure is associated with acute intoxication in humans.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEFSA J
September 2022
In 2011, the EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM) adopted a Scientific Opinion on the risks for animal health related to the presence of T-2 (T2) and HT-2 (HT2) toxin in food and feed. No observed adverse effect levels (NOAELs) and lowest observed adverse effect levels (LOAELs) were derived for different animal species. In ruminants a LOAEL was established for the sum of T2 and HT2 of 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFollowing a request from the European Commission, the EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM) assessed a decontamination process of fish oils and vegetable oils and fats to reduce the concentrations of dioxins (polychlorinated dibenzo--dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans, abbreviated together as PCDD/Fs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (DL-PCBs) by adsorption to activated carbon. All feed decontamination processes must comply with the acceptability criteria specified in the Commission Regulation (EU) 2015/786. Data provided by the feed food business operator (FBO) were assessed for the efficacy of the process and to demonstrate that the process did not adversely affect the characteristics and properties of the product.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn 2018, the EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM) adopted a Scientific Opinion on the risks for animal health related to the presence of fumonisins, their modified forms and hidden forms in feed. A no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) of 1 mg/kg feed was established for pigs. In poultry a NOAEL of 20 mg/kg feed and in horses a reference point for adverse animal health effect of 8.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe European Commission has asked the EFSA to evaluate the risk for animal health related to the presence of hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) in honey bee feed. HMF is a degradation product of particular sugars and can be present in bee feed. HMF is of low acute toxicity in bees but causes increased mortality upon chronic exposure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) are an abundant single-stranded type of small non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs), which initially were discovered in gonadal cells, with a role as defenders of genomic integrity in the germline, acting against the transposable elements. With a regular size range of 21-35 nt, piRNAs are associated with a PIWI-clade of Argonaute family proteins. The most widely accepted mechanisms of biogenesis for piRNAs involve the transcription of longer precursors of RNAs to be processed, by complexes of proteins, to functional size, preferentially accommodating uridine residues at the 5' end and 3' methylation to increase the stability of these molecules.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe European Commission asked EFSA to update its 2011 risk assessment on hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDDs) in food. HBCDDs, predominantly mixtures of the stereoisomers α-, β- and γ-HBCDD, were widely used additive flame retardants. Concern has been raised because of the occurrence of HBCDDs in the environment, food and in humans.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe European Commission asked EFSA to update its previous Opinion on nickel in food and drinking water, taking into account new occurrence data, the updated benchmark dose (BMD) Guidance and newly available scientific information. More than 47,000 analytical results on the occurrence of nickel were used for calculating chronic and acute dietary exposure. An increased incidence of post-implantation loss in rats was identified as the critical effect for the risk characterisation of chronic oral exposure and a BMDL of 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe European Commission asked EFSA for a scientific opinion on the risks to animal health related to nitrite and nitrate in feed. For nitrate ion, the EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM Panel) identified a BMDL of 64 mg nitrate/kg body weight (bw) per day for adult cattle, based on methaemoglobin (MetHb) levels in animal's blood that would not induce clinical signs of hypoxia. The BMDL is applicable to all bovines, except for pregnant cows in which reproductive effects were not clearly associated with MetHb formation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVinclozolin is a pesticide with antiandrogenic activity as an endocrine disruptor compound. Its effects upon the progression of primordial follicles were assessed in cultures of mouse fetal ovaries from the onset of meiotic differentiation of germ cells (13.5 days post coitum) and from both in vivo exposed mice and in vitro exposed ovaries.
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