Prioritising Relevant Polychlorinated Naphthalene (PCN) Congeners for Human Dietary Exposure Studies.

Following a decline in the production and use of polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) and the restrictions introduced by the Stockholm Convention, dietary intake represents the most significant pathway of human exposure to these dioxin-like contaminants. PCNs occur ubiquitously in foods, originating from the legacy of historical production that is now globally redistributed, as well as from ongoing industrial and domestic combustion sources which have a stronger influence on occurrence patterns in countries where they were not produced. Recent studies have benefited from a wider set of available PCN reference standards, enabling more accurate reporting of a diverse range of congeners.

Ensuring the reliability of brominated flame retardant data on food and feed occurrence through harmonised analytical criteria and proficiency testing.

The volume of occurrence data on food and animal feed contaminants such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDDs) is slowly increasing as more laboratories develop analytical capability. This data allows an evaluation of current background levels in different countries and regions and is also useful for estimating the health risk through dietary exposure and as evidence for the formulation of future control strategies. Existing data varies in the number of analytes reported and the quality measures applied.

Chemotaxonomy of Mycotoxigenic Small-Spored Fungi - Do Multitoxin Mixtures Act as an Indicator for Species Differentiation?

Necrotrophic as well as saprophytic small-spored species are annually responsible for major losses of agricultural products, such as cereal crops, associated with the contamination of food and feedstuff with potential health-endangering toxins. Knowledge of the metabolic capabilities of different species-groups to form mycotoxins is of importance for a reliable risk assessment. 93 strains belonging to the four species groups , , , and were isolated from winter wheat kernels harvested from fields in Germany and Russia and incubated under equal conditions.

Spotlight on the Underdogs-An Analysis of Underrepresented Alternaria Mycotoxins Formed Depending on Varying Substrate, Time and Temperature Conditions.

is a genus of widespread fungi capable of producing numerous, possibly health-endangering toxins (ATs), which are usually not the focus of attention. The formation of ATs depends on the species and complex interactions of various environmental factors and is not fully understood. In this study the influence of temperature (7 °C, 25 °C), substrate (rice, wheat kernels) and incubation time (4, 7, and 14 days) on the production of thirteen ATs and three sulfoconjugated ATs by three different isolates from the species groups and was determined.

Development of a high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry based analysis for the simultaneous quantification of various Alternaria toxins in wine, vegetable juices and fruit juices.

An analytical method based on high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) detection for the simultaneous quantification of 12 Alternaria toxins in wine, vegetable juices and fruit juices was developed. Excellent chromatographic performance was demonstrated for tenuazonic acid (TeA) in a multi-analyte method. This comprehensive study is also the first to report the determination of TeA, alternariol (AOH), alternariol monomethyl ether (AME), tentoxin (TEN) and altenuene (ALT), altertoxin I (ATX-I), altertoxin II (ATX-II), altenuisol (ATL), iso-altenuene (isoALT), altenuic acid III (AA-III) and the AAL toxins TB1 und TB2 in samples from the German market.

Simultaneous analysis of Alternaria toxins and citrinin in tomato: an optimised method using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

Alternaria toxins and citrinin are mycotoxins produced by fungi growing on different raw materials and agricultural commodities. Maximum levels of these toxins in foods are currently under consideration by the European Commission as a risk management measure. In this study, a new quantitative method is described for the determination of five Alternaria toxins and citrinin in tomato and tomato juice samples based on LC-MS/MS detection.